


Turning The Page

by Amethyst_The_Gem, Xerxes Break (Amethyst_The_Gem)



Category: Pandora Hearts
Genre: Angst, Coffee Shop, Drama, Gen, bookstore
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-24
Updated: 2020-06-02
Packaged: 2020-07-19 02:17:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 28,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19966360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amethyst_The_Gem/pseuds/Amethyst_The_Gem, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amethyst_The_Gem/pseuds/Xerxes%20Break
Summary: When two lives collide in a fateful place, it sets them on a path no-one could predict. (Modern AU)





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (PS, if you're reading this off an app called Fanfic Pocket Reader, you are paying for a work that you could be reading for free off of AO3, and I did not authorize for my fanfic to be placed on the Fanfic Pocket Reader app)

“Hey, where can I find the _Holy Knight_ series?”

Elliot Nightray, 16 years old, came marching over to a short, black-haired boy wearing a uniform of the bookstore he was currently in.

“Fiction, fantasy section. It’s over that way.” The boy pointed towards an aisle, barely seeming interested in Elliot’s question at all. He had hardly even glanced at Elliot, and seemed to have a rather disinterested look on his face, although it was hard to tell, because half of his face was covered by thick, long bangs, and equally thick glasses.

“ _How on earth can he see through all that?”_ Elliot wondered momentarily, although that train of thought didn’t last long, because in the next moment, the boy had turned to walk away, causing Elliot to feel a surge of anger. “Hey, shorty, are you gonna show me where it is?”

The boy stopped in his tracks and faced Elliot once more. His face, although still covered, seemed to twist in an expression beyond what could be called anger. He was livid. No, perhaps even more than that. Words couldn’t even describe it. The closest one could get to describing it? _Murderous_. “What….….did you just call me?”

Elliot’s eyes went wide. _“What the heck!? This guy looks like he’s ready to kill me! Is he that sensitive about his height?!”_ But he didn’t back down, and instead he repeated, with a little more confidence than he felt, “I called you shorty. Got a problem with that?”

“Yes, _I do_!” The boy yelled, stepping closer. Elliot could now plainly read his nametag, which said “Leo”. He payed no attention to the several people who were now staring in his direction. “I _will not_ stand for someone insulting me!” Quickly, his hand reached for the nearest object he could find, which just so happened to be a book. “Don’t you _dare_ ever say that to me again!” At this point, Leo was practically screaming. Without a moment of hesitation, he threw the book, or at least tried to. Before it could leave his hand, it was wrenched away by another person.

“Stop fighting, you two!” The other person scolded, holding out the book and waving it for emphasis. His blonde colored locks fell across his face as he shook his head. “You’re in the middle of a public place!” He frowned, looking back and forth between the two in disapproval. His emerald eyes seemed to look straight through them. “There was no need to get so worked up!” He sighed, dropping his arm down to his side, book and all.

“Shut up!” Leo yelled, clenching his fists. “It’s none of your business!” He pointed in Elliot’s direction angrily. “ _He’s_ the one I have business with, not you!”

“The name’s _Elliot_!” Elliot shot back, completing ignoring the blonde’s plea to stop fighting. “Not that I care if you know it or not!”

“Fine then! Sorry for not calling you by your proper name, _Idiot_!” Leo’s words had a biting edge that seemed as though it could cut through anything. “And sorry I didn’t parade you over to find your stupid book!” A sarcastic smirk tugged at his lips, and he continued, “Or are you so clueless that you can’t do anything for yourself?”

“Why you!-” Elliot yelled, only to be cut off by the arrival of yet _another_ person.

“Elliot, _calm down_!” A tall, black-haired man with dark clothing stood over Elliot, his frown even deeper than the blonde’s. “Did you not hear Oz say we’re in a _public place_?” If it was possible, his frown deepened even farther. “What has gotten into you?!”

“Gilbert!” Elliot glared at him, frustration evident on his face. “I don’t care about that! He tried to throw a book at me!”

“Only because you insulted me!” Leo shoved roughly past Oz and got right up into Elliot’s face. One could feel the murderous aura still emanating from him. “I would have gladly helped you, had you not insulted me!” Now, without distance separating the two, Leo clenched his fist, and stepped back slightly in an attempt to punch Elliot.

“You two stop!” Oz pushed the two apart, luckily managing to keep anyone from getting hurt. “Before somebody gets in trouble!”

Elliot clicked his tongue in annoyance, but backed off. “Fine. But I’m not going to forget this!” He promised, storming off towards the exit, his book all but forgotten.

Leo, on the other hand, was still fuming. “Get back here! I’m not done with you yet!” Before he could follow, however, a hand reached out and grabbed his shoulder.  
  
“Calm down, alright?”

Leo glared at Oz, and roughly shoved his hand away. He then turned his glare to follow Elliot’s retreating form. “No, I will _not_ calm down!” He declared, huffing in anger.

“Elliot didn’t mean anything by it. He has a good heart, he just………….tends to speak a little rudely sometimes.” Oz assured, smiling softly. “But he’s really a good guy once you get to know him!”

“Him, a good guy?!” Leo scoffed in disbelief. “Yeah right, and I work in a coffee shop!” His sarcasm was thick and sharp, and he gestured towards the aisles of books surrounding him. “And we all know that’s a lie!”

“But he really is!” Oz insisted, shaking his head. “You’ll see! You’ve just got to give him a chance!”

“I’m not going to give him that chance! I don’t even know him, I don’t even know you!” Leo snapped, crossing his arms. “Whatever, just………...I’m getting back to my job now.” He turned sharply on his heel, disappearing down an aisle of books.

Meanwhile, Elliot hadn’t stopped walking until he had made it several blocks away from the bookstore. “What is wrong with that guy?!” He fumed, sitting harshly on a bench positioned in front of a quaint coffee shop.  
  
“Elliot?”

“ _Great, more people. Just what I need right now.”_ Elliot internally groaned, but met the eyes of who had been speaking to him nonetheless. “Vincent?” He frowned, tilting his head. “Shouldn’t you be at work right now?”  
  
“You’re sitting right in front of it.” Vincent laughed softly, gesturing to the coffee shop. “And I’m on break.” He sat down next to Elliot, glancing at him in concern. Genuine concern, which was rare for him. “What happened?”

“Don’t wanna talk about it.” Elliot attempted to brush him off, looking away. His eyes traced cracks in the ground, in an attempt to keep from meeting Vincent’s gaze.

“Elliot……..” Vincent sighed, brushing his golden hair away from his face. “Listen, we may not be related by blood, but I’m still your brother. And you’re the brother I care about the most, besides Gil. You know that. So go on, tell me what’s wrong, OK?”

Elliot took a moment to think, and finally, he admitted, “I just met a jerk at a bookstore with Gilbert and Oz. He ticked me off, that’s all. I’m fine, really.”

Vincent nodded in understanding. “Ah, his name wouldn’t happen to be Leo, would it?”  
  
Elliot’s eyes widened in surprise. “How did you know?”

Vincent laughed again, and explained, “He comes over here from time to time during his break. Of course, he’s always wearing his uniform, so I know he works at that bookstore. Something about him has always seemed…….unstable. He’s been, as you said, a jerk, to some of my co-workers.”

“Oh.” Elliot tried to imagine Leo in a coffee shop. All he could see was him yelling and throwing coffee all over the place. It was _not_ a pleasant image in the slightest. “Does he…...ever throw things?” He asked curiously.

“Not usually.” Vincent shrugged, “But then again, he’s usually only here to get a cup of coffee or tea, maybe something to eat. He doesn’t stay long. He doesn’t really talk to anyone either, except to get what he needs.”

“Oh…….” Elliot couldn’t help but feel a sense of relief, but somehow it also upset him.Not that he wished that Leo was violent with others, no-one deserved that, but it felt odd that he was the only one who had managed to elicit that response from him. “So I guess he only likes to throw things at me.”

  
Now _that_ caught Vincent off-guard. “He _threw_ something at you?!” One could practically see the gears turning in Vincent’s head, and it was _not_ a pretty sight.

“Tried to, anyways. Oz stopped him. Tried to punch me too. Again, Oz stopped him. I don’t know how he managed to do it, either.” Elliot recalled the moment where Oz stepped between them, and a small smile formed on his lips. “That idiot, he could have gotten himself hurt.”

“Yes, well, at least you’re all safe.” Vincent pointed out, although he didn’t look happy at all about the prospect of Elliot potentially having something thrown at him. “I’ll have to warn my co-workers, I don’t want there to be any trouble. Although that reminds me, there was that _one incident_.”

Elliot was immediately curious. “Incident?” He asked, “What incident?”

Vincent lowered his voice to a hushed tone, and said, “There was this one time, that ‘Leo’ boy had just ordered some coffee, and someone made a comment about him, I have no clue what it was. Well, they were out here, so I couldn’t hear all of it anyways. But he started yelling, and _picked up a chair_. Looked like he was ready to throw it, too.”

Elliot was surprised at this, to say the least. Throwing a book was one thing, but a chair? Now _that_ could be dangerous. “What happened? Did someone stop him?”

“Yeah, someone managed to get it away from him. But he was not happy about it.”

Elliot felt his heart beating in his chest. He realized that he had left Oz in a potentially dangerous situation. As much as Oz could annoy him, they were still technically friends (although Elliot didn’t say so very much). “I…...I have to go back. Oz could be-”

“-I wouldn’t worry about that too much.” Vincent smirked, pointing down the block.

“Elliot!” Oz’s cheerful voice called out, and he ran towards the pair, waving in an equally cheerful manner. His face was flushed from running, and it only added to his cheerful look.

“And to think I was worried……..” Elliot sighed, standing and giving Oz a gentle thwap to the head. “Where’s Gilbert? Are you two OK?”

“Hm? Oh yeah, Gil’s…...well, he _was_ right behind me. I guess I got too far ahead!” Oz laughed sheepishly, scratching his head in embarrassment. “I figured you might come this way, so I went looking for you!”

“Of course you did…...” Elliot glanced back at Vincent, who was standing as well. “Isn’t your break going to be over soon?”  
  
“I’ve got about 5 minutes left.” Vincent motioned towards the coffee shop, patting Elliot’s shoulder as he walked past. “How about some coffee? My treat.”

“That sounds good.” Elliot nodded, following Vincent inside.

Oz tilted his head, and a moment later, he called out, “Hey, what about me?!” He followed behind, nearly having the door slammed on him.

“Ah, you’ll have to pay for yours.” Vincent grinned slyly, pulling his wallet out of his pocket.

“Aww, no fair!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! So this is my first attempt at a modern AU, so I hope it's OK! I know that it's not very dramatic and angsty yet, but it'll get there, I promise. Oh, and even though Elliot and Leo are going to be the main focus of this fic, the other characters are going to have plenty of time in the spotlight too, I already have a couple of plotline ideas for Vincent and Gil in particular.
> 
> As for why Vincent is a barista? the simple answer? because I can and I want to. the other answer? blame my sister LOL she mentioned the idea of a coffee shop AU, but I was already writing this, so I just plopped Vincent down in the coffee shop.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I forgot to mention during the last chapter, this story takes place during the summer, so Elliot, Oz, and Leo aren't in school right now.

"Remind me again why I agreed to this."   
  
Elliot stood in front of the bookstore he had visited the other day, one hand over his face in frustration.   
  
"Because, you should give him another chance!" Oz stood next to him, an encouraging grin on his face. "I bet you two just got off on the wrong foot, that's all!"   
  
"You really are an idiot....." Elliot groaned, shaking his head. "He's _violent_ , Oz. And somehow, I seemed to set that violent tendency off! I'll be lucky if he doesn't decide to punch me upon sight!"   
  
But despite Elliot's protests, he _was_ rather curious. Well, perhaps curious would be too strong of a word. That made it sound like he was interested, which he most certainly was not. He didn't care about Leo, nor was he interested. Or at least that's what he tried to convince himself of. But with each passing minute, he found himself growing more and more..........fine, the word to describe it would indeed be curious.

“I’m sure it’ll be fine!” Oz insisted, “After all, you and I are friends, and we fight a lot!”   
  
“Yes, but that’s _different_.” Elliot countered, “I don’t hit you hard or throw things at you out of malice. I just get annoyed with you sometimes.” He sighed, dropping his hand down to his side. “Look, I don’t even know what I’m supposed to be doing!”

“Just go back in and talk to him!” Oz explained, “Ask him about that book again, or……..I don’t know, just think of something!”

“You’re no help at all…...” Elliot sighed again, and glanced inside the bookstore. “You know what? Fine, I’ll go in there again. But if it’s a disaster, I’m blaming it on you, since you’re the one who suggested it.” Elliot couldn’t help but feel as though he would have come back sooner or later on his own, but he didn’t voice this aloud, and instead just took a breath, and pushed the door open.

And who else should be standing at the door but Leo?

“Oh, hey, it’s you again.” The black-haired boy greeted, but it was slightly absent-minded, as he was busy setting up a “new reads” display. “Came back for that book?”

Elliot blinked in surprise. He had half expected the scenario that he had described to Oz, to actually happen. But yet it seemed as if Leo hadn’t even cared about that incident. “Yeah, I did. I’m looking for volume 16. You wouldn’t happen to have it yet, would you?” For now, he decided to just try and start a normal conversation.

Leo smirked, and reached down into a box at his feet. “Yeah, gimme just a second to finish getting this set up, and I’ll show you, if you still need help finding it, that is.”

Elliot had to bite his tongue, to not give a retort. He _knew_ that Leo was referencing their argument the other day, and he didn’t find it amusing in the slightest. So instead, he simply responded, “Yeah, sure. That sounds good.”

About two minutes later, during which Elliot knew he could have found the book on his own (but knowing that Oz would have been upset, and he did not want to have to deal with that), Leo finally finished setting up the display, and turned to Elliot. “Alright, let’s go find that book.”

Elliot followed behind Leo, who walked past aisles and aisles of books, until they reached a section within the fiction area marked “fantasy”. “Alright, now it’s down this way, and……...here.” He reached up to a shelf nearly out of his reach, and pulled down a copy of _Holy Knight_.

“Ah, thanks.” Elliot took the book, unsure of what to say next. He hadn’t planned this far ahead, in fact, he hadn’t really planned at all.

“Listen, I know that that friend of yours put you up to this. I could see you two standing outside.” Leo remarked after a moment. “So don’t feel like you’re obligated to talk to me or anything.” His voice held a sarcastic, slightly teasing tone.

“Ah, well, he did, but, I mean…….” Elliot searched for the right words, cursing his inability to come up with them. _“Why now of all times?”_

“Oh? What’s this? Don’t tell me you came back because _you_ were the one curious about me.” Leo laughed, crossing his arms.

“What? No!” Elliot exclaimed, his face going red. “Well, I mean, _yes,_ but no……..” He groaned in frustration, face-palming. “You’re just……...I don’t know. I guess you could say you piqued my interest.”   
  
“Hah, never would have guessed that!” Leo smirked again, and he continued, “But then again who am I to judge? Well, whatever. It’s none of my business who you like and who you don’t.”   
  
“I didn’t mean it like _that_!” Elliot insisted quickly, “You just seemed interesting, as a person, overall.” His grip on _Holy Knight_ tightened, and he tried to stop the flush rising to his cheeks. “I mean, we started out rocky, but……..”

“Is this where we’re supposed to start over, and I say ‘Hi, I’m Leo’, and we shake hands and stuff?” Leo still held a hint of sarcasm, but despite that, it was still an honest question. “Because I don’t really do that.”

“I mean, we don’t _have_ to.” Elliot shrugged, “I guess if you don’t want to, then……...well, I’m going to start over anyways. The name’s Elliot, Elliot Nightray. Yours?”

“Leo. Just Leo.” With that being said, Leo took a step away from Elliot. “I hate to break up the party, but I’ve got to get back to work now. You can hang around, or not, I don’t really care, just don’t get in the way too much, and don’t expect me to come running to chat with you.”

Elliot felt himself beginning to blow a fuse, so he stepped to the side of the aisle and glanced out the main windows. Oz as nowhere to be found. _“The little………….he ditched me!”_

As Leo passed by, he commented, “Ah, your friend abandoned you, did he?”

“He did not!” Even though Elliot had just been thinking the same thing, to hear it coming from Leo was an entirely different matter altogether.   
  
“Looks like it to me.” Leo responded, turning his back on Elliot and walking away.

With yet another groan of frustration, Elliot pulled out his phone, and texted Oz, _“Where the heck are you?!”_

Not even a minute later, Oz texted him back. _“At the park with Alice and Ada.”_

Alice was Oz’s girlfriend, although they didn’t really talk much about it often, so most people wouldn’t even know that they were dating, if it weren’t for the fact that Alice was _insanely_ possessive of Oz. To the point where she was even reluctant to share him with his family, such as his sister, Ada.

“ _Great, so he really did ditch me.”_ Elliot tucked away his phone in his pocket, and made his way to the front of the store, to purchase his newly acquired copy of _Holy Knight_. The store wasn’t all that busy, so it didn’t take long. _“OK, now what? Should I just go join Oz?”_

Elliot toyed with this idea for a moment, and then his thoughts drifted to other possibilities. Going down to see Vincent during his break? A possibility. Vincent, despite how he often acted towards others, did seem to enjoy Elliot’s company. Maybe hang out with Gilbert? He was pretty cool, not to mention he often let Elliot help him bake various sweets, which he would then later sell at various events.

But for some reason, his thoughts kept wandering back to Leo. He couldn’t help it, they just did. Before he even realized that any time had passed, he felt a sharp tap on his shoulder. He turned, and saw Leo standing next to him. “What?”

“You’ve been standing there staring at that shelf for thirty minutes. I’m no expert, but I doubt the books will magically change just because you’re staring at them.”

Elliot felt a prick of annoyance. “I _know_ that.” He muttered, “I was just……….thinking.”   
  
“Ah, I see. Thinking so hard that you’ve ignored your phone beeping in your pocket for that same thirty minutes?” Leo gestured to Elliot’s pocket, where yet another beep just so happened to sound.

“Say what?!” Elliot yelled, fishing through his pocket for his phone. “Oh great……...” He pulled open his texting app, and was greeting with a string of texts, all from Oz.

“ _Hey, how’d it go?”_

“ _Did you get the book?”_

“ _Is Leo friendlier today?”_

“ _Elliot?”_

“ _I’m guessing that’s a yes?”_

“ _You gonna come join us?”_

“ _We’re gonna go get ice cream.”_

“ _K, I’ll guess that’s a no. Have fun!”_

Elliot turned off his phone, a frown crossing his face. “Great………….” He dropped it back into his pocket, and turned towards the exit. “Now I’ve gotta fix this mess…..”

Leo laughed, clearly finding the situation amusing. “Let me guess, your friend thinks that we’re out, hanging out together? Well, it’s none of my concern, so…….” He shrugged, turning away from Elliot.

Before he could get too far away, a tall girl with long pink hair approached him. “Hey, Leo? You got a minute?”

Leo sighed, and Elliot could almost imagine him rolling his eyes. “Yeah, I guess I do now.”

Elliot scooted past them, although curiosity was once again rising to the surface of his mind. As he left, he heard the girl speak quietly, although he couldn’t quite make out the words. Leo, however, he could hear plainly, shouting out the words, “You think I haven’t been trying?!”

“W _hat was that about?”_ Elliot wondered, stepping out into the sunlight, shielding his face with one hand. “W _ell,_ _Vincent’s probably back to work now, I guess I could stop by anyways, a coffee sounds good right about now.”_

With that thought in mind, Elliot set off at a brisk pace, arriving within a matter of minutes. He stepped into the cool air-conditioned building, a contrast from the summer heat. There was a gentle buzz of conversation flowing, and Elliot found his thoughts wandering to Leo once more. Had he gotten in trouble with a co-worker? Had Elliot himself been the cause of that trouble? Was Leo getting fired?

Before he could sort through all these thoughts, it was his turn to order. “Ah, I’ll have a mocha frappe please.” He pulled out his wallet, and handed his payment to the cashier. “You can keep the change.”   
  
Just a few minutes later, Elliot heard his name being called by a familiar voice. He grinned, taking his coffee from his brother. “Thanks Vincent.”

“No problem.” Vincent smiled back softly, handing him a straw. “I get off here in an hour, if you want to come home with Gil and I for the evening. I think he was going to be making a set of cupcakes for a birthday party, if you want to help.”

“That sounds good, I think I will.” Elliot agreed, pulling the wrapper off his straw, as Vincent returned to work. _“I guess I’d better update Oz, before he gets any more crazy ideas.”_

But before he could reach for his phone, the doors of the coffee shop opened once more, and in stormed a _very_ angry looking Leo. He took one glance at Elliot (or so one could only suppose, since his eyes were covered by his glasses and hair), and his face grew even stormier. Four words escaped from his lips, that made Elliot’s blood run cold.

“You’ve ruined my life.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, there you have it, chapter 2! I know I promised this will be an angsty story, and it's getting there. Those last 4 words were the prelude, it's gonna start going downhill from here.


	3. Chapter 3

“What do you mean, _I’ve ruined your life?!_ _How?!_ ”   
  
Elliot stared in shock, all of his thoughts from earlier rushing back to the surface of his brain. Had what he feared, actually happened? Had he gotten Leo fired? Was Leo going to become violent again?

“None of your business, that’s how!” Leo shot back, clenching his fists. “I hate you!” To Elliot’s surprise, his hands were shaking. Whether it was out of rage, or some other emotion, he wasn’t sure. “I wish I’d never even met you!”

At that, Elliot could no longer control his own temper. “Well sorry I just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time!” He shouted, picking up his coffee and standing up. He strode past Leo, attempting to go outside, but Leo reached out and grabbed his arm.

“Oh no, you don’t get to walk away from this.” Leo’s voice was suddenly low, and threatening. “You don’t get to just walk away from all the crap you’ve put me in.” His grip tightening, he continued, “If you don’t want me to take things out on you right now, and trust me, I will, then you _will_ follow me until we get somewhere private enough for us to sort all this crap out.”

Elliot’s mind was racing. Did he dare do what Leo demanded? He glanced back over his shoulder, and saw Vincent staring back, his expression a mix of anger and fear, anger towards Leo for daring to lay a hand on Elliot, and fear that Elliot was in a dangerous situation. He spoke a few words to one of his co-workers, and started to step away from the counter.

Leo saw this, and his grip tightened even further. “Come _on_.” He hissed, tugging slightly.

Elliot saw Vincent would be following close behind, so he decided the best course of action would be to go along with Leo, so as to get away from the coffee shop to keep innocent bystanders from getting involved. “Alright, let’s go.”   
  
“About time.” Leo scoffed, pushing open the door with one hand, and guiding Elliot with the other. Once they got outside, he released Elliot’s arm, but spoke in a low tone, “The park across the street. don’t stop moving until we’ve found a place away from everyone else.”

Elliot felt another wave of surprise. _“The park?”_ He was almost sure Leo would have forced him into some sort of back alley, with the way he was acting and everything. By contrast, the park seemed….well, normal. But then again, Leo was most definitely _not_ normal. “And if I say no?”

“Then I’ll punch you upside the head.” Leo muttered, venom in his voice. “So if I were you I’d-” Without finishing his sentence, Leo reached out and grasped Elliot’s arm once again. “Stop. _Crap_. I am _not_ dealing with this right now.”   
  
Elliot was confused, but only for a moment. Then he saw what Leo was talking about. Oz was standing across the street, speaking happily to Ada and Alice. _“He doesn’t want Oz to see us._ ” Elliot realized, glancing around. His eyes fell on a nearby shop, and he pointed with his free hand, still holding his coffee from before. “Over there.”

“That'll work." Leo released his grip on Elliot's arm once again, and the two stepped inside the shop, which was a small music store. Several different types of instruments lined the walls, and larger instruments such as harps and a few pianos were showcased near the middle. "We're only staying until your friend goes away."   
  
  
"Yeah........." Elliot couldn't help but be mesmerized by all the different instruments. The only thing he had ever learned how to play was the piano, at his parents insistence. He glanced back to Leo, only to realize he wasn’t standing behind him anymore. Confused, he looked around the shop, shocked to find him sitting on the bench of a grand piano. _“What…….he can play piano?_ ” Curious, he stepped closer.

Leo had his fingers lightly placed over the keys of the piano, as if he were afraid that his touch would break them. He took a shaky breath, and began to play. It started out lightly, a gentle melody, but as the song progressed, it gained a harsher, more angry tone. It felt as if Leo was pouring his own soul into the music, that it was speaking all the words that he himself could not.

Elliot barely even dared to breathe, entranced by the music, as angry and harsh as it was. It was moving, and intense. There was a certain feeling to it, that no-one else could ever replicate. _“Did he write this?_ ” Elliot wondered, watching as Leo’s fingers practically flew across the piano.

Finally, with one last strike of the keys, Leo finished, his hands shaking. A tear rolled down his cheek, then another. He reached up to his face, pushing his glasses aside to brush the tears away that were gathering in the corners of his eyes. “Ah…...I didn’t mean for us to stay this long, let’s go.” He stood, turning to Elliot.

Elliot shook his head, and took a seat at the bench. “No, I want to play something real quick.” He glanced at the owner of the store, silently asking for permission. The owner nodded, and so Elliot positioned his hands to play.

Now it was Leo’s turn to be entranced. The piece that Elliot was playing was the exact opposite of Leo’s. It was light, hopeful, and resonated with the soul, as if to say _“things will be OK_.” It was soothing, as if it could carry away one’s troubles just by listening to it. The contrast between the two pieces grew more evident with each passing bar.

Elliot, who had already played this piece dozens of times, felt as if he was giving it new life, simply by being in this place, playing it for someone who really needed it. He hoped that his message would be conveyed, that it would soothe Leo’s soul. _“Please let this work_.” He begged silently, wishing he could look to see how Leo felt, but not daring to, lest he lose his concentration and break the spell of tranquility provided by the music.

And then, all too soon, with one final chord, it was over. Elliot sighed, finally daring to sneak a look at Leo. To his shock, Leo was crying even more than he had been before. _“That wasn’t supposed to happen!_ ” He stood quickly, unsure of what to do. Would Leo want comfort? He had never been in such a situation before. And so all he could do was stare in silence as Leo’s tears flowed freely, breaking an emotional dam that had been built up for who knows how long.

After what felt like an eternity to both parties, Leo’s tears finally slowed, then stopped. His breathing was ragged, and his arms were crossed over his chest tightly. His tears had left stains of water down his shirt, and small puddles littered the floor. With shaky hands, Leo reached once more to clear away the last of his tears, straightening his glasses in the process. “Let’s go.” Without another word, Leo turned on his heel and made for the door.

Elliot frowned, but complied, following close behind. He saw that Oz was no longer standing nearby, which was to be expected, but noticed that Vincent was watching, his expression unreadable. He didn’t point this out to Leo, who simply pushed the door open and stepped out onto the sidewalk, and checked to make sure that Elliot was still following.

“We’re still going to find somewhere to talk.” Leo spoke after a moment, waiting for their chance to cross the street.

“I know.” Elliot had figured that Leo would still not allow him to just walk away, which Elliot was somehow beginning to resign himself to. “And I think I know a spot.” When Leo wasn’t looking, Elliot glanced towards Vincent, and mouthed the words, “give us a minute”.

Vincent did not look happy at the idea of leaving Elliot and Leo alone. But when the signal turned green to allow them to cross, he stayed behind, a frown deeply etched on his face.

“Alright, I know a spot where we can go. Follow me.” Elliot motioned with his hand. Stepping off the path of the park. “There’s a section of woods that no-one really goes in, Oz found it years ago, and we used to hang out there during the summer.”

Leo followed silently, which began to unnerve Elliot after a moment. He couldn’t feel the murderous aura that he had felt before, but he wasn’t quite like the time where he was calm and sarcastic. He was somewhere in the middle, stable, but ready to blow at any minute.

Elliot stopped in front of a log that had been covered in blankets. The blankets were old and tattered, but Elliot felt a small twinge of nostalgia upon seeing them again. He sat down, and motioned for Leo to sit as well. “Alright, I’m all ears. What did you need to say?” He was dreading the coming conversation, but after seeing the amount of distress Leo was in, he felt that Leo deserved the chance to explain why he felt so angry towards him.

“Yeah…….before that, there’s something else I wanted to ask you.” Leo sat down, keeping distance between the two of them.   
  
“Yeah? What is it?”

“That…...that music. Did you write it?” Leo asked, his voice hushed. “I’d never heard anything like it.”   
  
“Hm? Oh, yeah, I did.” Elliot felt a small rush of pride at Leo’s compliment. “I write music, but that’s the piece I’m proudest of. What about you? Did you write the piece you played back there?”

“I guess you could say that.” Leo shrugged, “But I didn’t really write it, I just kinda played what came to mind in the moment.”   
  
Elliot was shocked. Leo had come up with all of that on the spot? It had sounded so masterfully done, so refined, and yet Leo had just been doing nothing but purely pouring his emotions out onto the piano. “How……..”

“I just do. “ Leo responded, shrugging again. “Can’t really explain it.”   
  
Elliot was beyond impressed. He had spent hours upon hours writing and perfecting his pieces. It honestly made him feel a little bit jealous. “You should write that down, it was beautiful.”

“Maybe. I don’t know. Anyways,” Leo brushed off the comment, “Your piece. Does it have a name?”   
  
Elliot smiled softly. He had indeed named the piece, and it was one that he was rather fond of.

“ _Statice._ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First, for anyone who might be curious, I've used this wonderful fan-made track as my basis for describing Statice, so if you're curious as to what it sounds like, I'll leave a link. (also try listening to it while reading the music shop scene, I listened to it while writing, and it made things feel so much more emotional)
> 
> and second, the promised angst has finally arrived! well, sort of XD this is still just the prelude, it's going to get waaay worse. 
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98KppKtkSAo


	4. Chapter 4

“Alright, now, what did you need to talk to me about?”  
  
Elliot and Leo were still seated on a log in the woods, facing each other. Elliot was still nervous about the coming conversation, unsure of what exactly to expect. But at the same time, he couldn’t help but feel that it was the right thing to do.

“Ah, yeah. That.” Leo looked as if he suddenly didn’t want to talk about it anymore. “I guess you could probably figure it out by now, but I got fired.” He sighed, crossing his arms as he spoke. “But there’s more to it than that. I……….” He bit his lip, his voice wavering. “I’m going to have to move.”  
  
“Wait, what?! _Why_?!” Elliot felt a wave of shock wash over him. Leo was moving? “I don’t understand. Why do you have to move?”

Leo shrugged, and turned his head. “I don’t know if I want to talk about it anymore. I really just dragged you out here cause I was angry, not to pour out my whole life story.”

“Come on, really?!” Elliot frowned, a touch of his temper flaring to the surface. “You can’t just drag someone around and yell about how much you hate them, and then not explain why!”

“…………..fine.” Leo kept his face angled away from Elliot, and continued, “Because my foster parents said so. That if I couldn’t hold down a job because of my……….tendencies, that they’d have to have me reassigned to a different house.”

“Oh…….” Elliot was dumbfounded. He had no idea what to say. “I’m so sorry……….”

Leo shrugged, but a small smile formed on his lips. “It’s not the first time it happened, and it probably won’t be the last either. But I was just starting to get used to this place, so it kinda hit hard, you know? Usually I don’t have enough time to form an attachment to where I end up living.”

“ _How many times has he moved?_ ” Elliot wondered to himself, but he was afraid to even think about asking. Not only was it none of his business, but he had no idea how Leo would take to the question. And he’d rather not risk the possibility of things going south, not when they were actually managing to have a semi-normal conversation. So instead, he opted for asking, “Do you know where you’re going to be moving to?”

“No clue.” Leo’s voice gained a bitter tone, “I don’t know anything worth crap. Well, not like I care about that part. I don’t care where they move me, it’s all the same. I’ll just end up hating it, causing issues, and getting moved around again.”

Elliot felt his heart hurting for Leo. It was a situation he couldn’t even begin to imagine. But before he could say anything else, a loud beeping sound cut through the silence of the woods.

“Ah crap…...” Leo muttered, pulling his phone out of his pocket. “Give me a second.” He spoke to Elliot, swiping his finger across the screen. He held the phone to his ear, a frown etching across his face. “Yeah? No, I’m off now, I’m out…….I’m with a…..well, an acquaintance, I guess. _No_ , I’m not getting into trouble. Yeah I’ll head back soon. I’m fine, Lauren, really……..”

Elliot couldn’t help but feel curiosity. Who was Lauren? His foster sibling maybe? That question lingered in his brain, until finally Leo seemed as if he was ready to end the call.

“Yeah, I’ll come back soon. Just give me a little bit longer.” With that, Leo hung up the phone, his lips still pulled into a frown. “Sorry about that. I just-” At that, Leo found himself getting cut off by yet _another_ phone call. “Seriously?……...” He groaned, answering the phone with an ever darkening face. “What is it, Lottie?” A moment later, beneath his thick bangs and glasses, Leo's eyes widened (Although Elliot could not see it). “Say _what_?!” He glanced towards Elliot, or at least Elliot thought that’s what he was doing, since he _still_ couldn’t see Leo’s eyes. “I……..you’re not really going to give me much of a choice, are you?”

Now Elliot was beyond curious. He couldn’t help it. Who was Leo talking to? What was he not getting a choice in? Then, to Elliot’s surprise, a small smile began to form on Leo’s lips.

“Well, I guess if you’re not giving me a choice, then fine. Yeah, I get it. I guess I’ll see you around, then.” He hung up, turning back to Elliot. “Well, I guess you’ll be seeing more of me, Idiot.” He smirked, tucking away his phone. “I’m only moving one neighborhood away.”

A sense of relief washed over Elliot, for reasons he couldn’t quite explain. “Really?!” He noticed that Leo had called him idiot again, but at this point he was too relieved to care. “That’s……….that’s really great news…….”

“Gee, you’d think you care about me or something.” Leo teased sarcastically, standing up as he spoke. “Anyways, I’d better head back, it takes me a while to walk from here. Not like I mind being out after dark though.”

“Ah, alright.” Elliot stood as well, but Leo’s last comment left yet another question on the tip of his tongue. _“What did he mean by that_?” Once again, he didn’t dare to ask. So instead, he pulled out his own phone, and saw that he had a message from Vincent.

“ _What’s happening? Are you alright?”_

Elliot thought for a moment before quickly typing a response, then tucking his phone away.

“ _I’m fine. We just talked for a while.”_

“That friend of yours?” Leo asked, waiting for Elliot to catch up. “Or that over-protective guy from the coffee shop?”

Elliot couldn’t help but snicker slightly, since the description of Vincent was spot-on. “Ah, the over-protective guy.” He affirmed, “My brother, Vincent.”

Leo looked surprised at this, and he questioned, “Brothers? You two?” He seemed as if he was trying to compare the two in his mind. “I don’t see that one……..”

“Well, adopted brother.” Elliot shrugged, “But he’s family nonetheless. Oh, and Gilbert, the guy who was with Oz the other day, remember? The tall guy with black hair? They’re blood-related.” Elliot grinned, and continued, “You think Vincent’s over-protective of me? Oh you should just see how protective he can get about Gilbert, it’ll change your mind real quick.”

“I’ll take your word for it.” Leo nodded, slipping back into an almost absent-minded state. “Although I’m not quite sure I want to see that. In fact I’m almost completely sure I don’t.”

“Yeah, I guess it’s not really a fun thing to witness.” Elliot admitted, “But it’s just Vincent’s way of showing that he cares.” Elliot thought back to all the different times he had seen Vincent be protective of Gilbert, and a nostalgic feeling rose in his chest.

“If you say so.” Leo didn’t sound convinced in the slightest. He stepped out of the woods, into the open area of the park, with Elliot close behind. “Weird way of caring, if you ask me.” He took one last glance at Elliot, and started to walk away. “See ya later, Idiot.”

“It’s Elliot!” Elliot called across the park, ignoring the stares of confusion he received from children and adults alike. “You little shorty……….” He muttered, sighing and walking in the opposite direction.

“Elliot what the hell were you thinking?!”  
  
Elliot grimaced, looking down at the floor. Upon his arrival to the edge of the park, he had been promptly picked up by a _very_ concerned looking Gilbert and Vincent. They had remained silent the entire ride to their apartment, but were now unleashing the brotherly scolding Elliot knew was coming a mile away.

“Do you even realize how _dangerous_ that was?!” Gilbert crossed his arms, staring down at Elliot. “We could have lost you! I’m not saying I don’t trust your judgment, but when I think about the fact that one of my little brothers got _kidnapped……_...”

“I knew what I was doing!” Elliot insisted defensively. “I knew Vincent was following us!”

“And if I hadn’t been?!” Vincent spoke up, his protectiveness that Elliot had spoken of earlier now showing through quite clearly. “If I’d have lost track of you?! You could have been dead in a back alley somewhere, did you consider that?!”

“Of course I did!” Elliot shot back, “I’m not stupid! I wasn’t going to just let myself go and get killed! Really……...” Elliot knew that Gilbert and Vincent were just worried about him, and with good reason, but he couldn’t help but feel annoyed by the fact that they didn’t seem to have any faith in him. “I’m not going to just throw my life away like that!”

Vincent’s eyes widened, and he pursed his lips into a thin line. His chest rose and fell with quick, angered breaths. He seemed to be trying to compose himself, and with every breath, it seemed as though he was fighting more and more of a losing battle.

And so Gilbert took over, placing a calming hand on Vincent’s shoulder. “Elliot, we know all that. But there’s still that off chance, _if_ something went wrong, _if_ heaven forbid, you died, then Vince and I could never forgive ourselves. Our lives wouldn’t be the same without you. So please, I know you’re angry with us for scolding you, but try to understand where we’re coming from.”

“……..I understand.” Elliot said quietly, finally looking Gilbert in the eye. “I really am sorry for worrying you two.”

“I know you are.” Gilbert let go of Vincent’s shoulder, and moved to hug Elliot. His arms wrapped around Elliot’s form, holding tightly as if he couldn’t bear to let go. “I know you are. I don’t even want to think about……….what might have happened……..”

A moment later, Elliot felt another added pressure against his back, and realized that Vincent had joined the embrace. “Vincent?” Vincent didn’t speak, but his silence spoke volumes, and that was enough for Elliot.

Finally, Gilbert pulled back, bringing Vincent along with him. “As much as I would love nothing more than to keep you here overnight, you do have to go home at some point. I’m sure everyone else is worried about you.”  
  
“Oh no………..Vanessa……...” Elliot groaned, internally face-palming. He could practically see his sister pacing the room, yelling about his stupid decision. “Oh I don’t even want to think about Vanessa right now……..”

“I know…….” Gilbert smiled sympathetically, “But you’re going to have to. She’s your sister, your _biological_ sister. She’s just as worried about you as we were, and still are. So you might as well get it over with, right? You already survived our scolding.” Gilbert pointed out, “So what’s one more?”

“Right……….” Elliot couldn’t help but think about just how _wrong_ that statement was. Sure, Gilbert and Vincent were protective, but _Vanessa_. Hell hath no fury like a Vanessa scorned, or in this case, a Vanessa worried to death about her little brother. “I guess I’m just going to have to get it over with, aren’t I?”

“The sooner the better.” Gilbert added, patting Elliot’s head affectionately. “Come on, I’ll drive you home.” He pulled his car keys out of his pocket, and added, to Vincent, “You coming?”

“Ah, yes, I think I will.” Vincent nodded, although there was a faraway look to his eyes. “You two go on ahead, I’ll be right behind you.”

“Alright.” Gilbert unlocked the front door, stepping out into their apartment complex hallway. “Come on, let’s get you home.” He pulled the door closed behind Elliot, and strode down the hallway.

The walk down the many flights of stairs was a long, silent one. Elliot didn’t even question why Gilbert hadn’t opted for taking the elevator. In fact, he was almost grateful for it. It provided a few extra minutes for Elliot to gather his thoughts and prepare himself for the inevitable second chewing-out that Vanessa would undoubtedly provide.  


“Hey Elliot?” Gilbert’s voice broke the silence, as they neared the bottom of the stairs.  
  
“Yeah?” Elliot wondered what Gilbert was going to say, he sounded oddly……….timid? What kind of thing could cause Gil to act in such a way?  
  
Then it hit him, glaring him right in the face. At the bottom of the stairs, staring at him, was one very stern, _very_ angry looking Vanessa.

“Elliot, _what the_ _hell were you thinking?!_ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and here's chapter 4! I'm trying to slowly drop hints and revelations, and I'm trying to make some more subtle than others. 
> 
> I had to include Vincent in the group hug, I just had to. He deserves to be able to show Elliot some form of affection, since he does really care for him deep down. 
> 
> Like always, comments are 100% appreciated (and might help motivate me XD) and I hope y'all enjoy it!


	5. Chapter 5

“Elliot, don’t you understand?! What you did was _dangerous_!” Vanessa scolded, as Elliot stood mid-way down the stairs. “What sort of thing could have possessed you to do that?!”

Elliot glanced at Gilbert. There was no escaping the fury of his sister, and Gilbert didn’t seem at all like he was going to be of any assistance in softening the scolding. “I’m sorry, Vanessa…….”

“You’d better be!” Vanessa burst out, “Do you have _any idea_ how scared I was?! I probably broke the speed limit a dozen times to get here!” She ascended the stairs, dragging Elliot back down with her. “You are _never_ going to associate with that boy again, not if I have anything to say about it!”

Elliot’s eyes widened. He had just managed to have a semi normal conversation with Leo, and now he was being told he could never speak to him again! “Vanessa!” He protested in disbelief. “You’ve never even _met_ him!”

“And I don’t have to!” Vanessa spoke with finality. “Anyone that kidnaps my little brother is _not_ someone that should be associated with!” She stormed out of the apartment complex, still pulling Elliot along.

Elliot knew there would be no way to convince Vanessa otherwise. Her mind was made up. To her, there would be no reason whatsoever that would be good enough for her to allow Elliot even the _possibility_ of seeing Leo again. But yet, he couldn’t help but feel as if he would be making a mistake by giving in to what Vanessa wished. So making up his mind, he said in a resolute, and slightly defiant tone, “No.”

“ _What_ did you just say?!” Vanessa stopped, her voice incredulous. “Elliot please tell me I did not just hear what I think I just heard. You’d better have a _very_ good reason for why you just said that.”

Elliot knew Vanessa would not be happy with his words. But he also knew, somehow, that he was doing the right thing. “I said no. Vanessa I know you won’t like hearing me say this, but I’m going to talk to him again. We had a good conversation, believe it or not. And I’m not willing to give up what little progress I’ve managed to make, just because you said so!”

Vanessa gaped in shock, unable to form words for several moments. “You……...you _what_?!” She managed finally, her face going red. “I don’t believe what I’m hearing! First you _willingly_ go along with a _kidnapper_ , and now you want to associate with him again?!” She shook her head, taking her car keys out of her purse and unlocking her car as she spoke. “As soon as we get home, I’m reporting him to the police!”

“No, don’t!” Elliot yelled desperately. _“That’s the last thing he needs right now!_ ”

“And why not?!” Vanessa stared at her brother in shock. “Give me one, no, wait, give me five good reasons why I shouldn’t.” She crossed her arms, a stern expression settling on her face. “And they’d better be _very_ good ones.”

Elliot’s mind raced. What could he tell Vanessa, that wouldn’t be a violation of Leo’s privacy? There wasn’t much for him to go on. Everything that he knew about Leo, as little as it was, was stuff that he was sure Leo wouldn’t want him to go announcing, even to just one person. _“How do I do this?!”_ Finally, he decided to just bite the bullet, tell Vanessa the truth, and apologize profusely to Leo later. “He’s a foster child, he’s been dragged around from place to place who knows how many times, I _literally just got him fired_ , I got him kicked out of his current home, so he’s moving _again_ , and _I want to get to know him_!” Elliot held his breath, hoping his words would convince Vanessa. _“Sorry Leo, but this is for_ _the sake of both of us_.”

Vanessa was silent for several moments. For several long, agonizing moments, a suffocating, stifling silence hung in the air between the two of them. “I’m really, _really_ opposed to this.” She stated, pulling open the driver side door to her car. “This is your _safety_ we’re talking about. I’m sorry, Elliot, but to me, protecting your safety comes before protecting someone you just met _yesterday_.”

“I _understand that_ , Vanessa!” Elliot was adamant, not willing to give up without a fight. “But I still don’t want to mess up his life more than I already have! So please, if nothing else, don’t report him. I swear, he didn’t hurt me, and all we did was talk.”

Vanessa pressed her lips into a thin line, and once again silence descended between the two. Without speaking a word, she got into the driver’s seat, motioning for Elliot to follow. Once he got in the car, finally she spoke. “I don’t like this, Elliot. I really don’t. You’re too important to me, I don’t want to even think about the possibility of losing you. Not to mention the possibility of that boy kidnapping anyone else.”

“He has a name, and it’s Leo.” Elliot muttered quietly, then added in a normal tone, “I don’t think he will. Please Vanessa, just let me give him a chance.”

“Elliot, do you even hear yourself?” Vanessa questioned, backing her car up and driving out onto the street. “What you’re saying, it’s just…….....it’s insane. I can’t even believe you’re _suggesting_ such a thing!”

“I know. I can’t really believe it either.” Elliot admitted, “But somehow, something is telling me that walking away from Leo and leaving him alone will be the worst mistake of my life. Call it a hunch, gut instinct, call it whatever you want, I’m going to listen to it.”

“You’re insane.” Vanessa declared, shaking her head. “That is absolutely insane. No-one in their right mind would be able to say what you’re saying. No-one in their right mind would even _listen_ to what you’re saying. And yet………...”

“And yet what?” Elliot felt a small spark of hope flickering in his chest. Maybe, just maybe, his words were getting through to Vanessa.

“I guess I’m insane too.”

“Whoa wait you did _what_?!”

Elliot sighed in exasperation, face-palming. Of course the first thing Oz would do after being told about the events that had just transpired, would be to flip out. A normal reaction, sure, but it was a reaction that becomes oddly annoying when done by a certain blonde. “I told you already. We just talked for a bit.”

“Yeah, yeah, I got that part, but _before that_. He _kidnapped you_?!” Oz’s emerald eyes were wide, full of concern. The two were video calling, and Oz was laying across his bed, kicking his feet behind him. “Dang………..Elliot that’s insane!”

“ _Yeah no kidding, and you’re the one who encouraged me to talk to him!_ ” Elliot thought to himself, but aloud he just said, “I’m fine, really. He didn’t hurt me or anything. We literally just talked, that’s it.” He didn’t go into details, not yet at least.   
  
“Yeah, but I never would have encouraged it if I’d known he’d _kidnap_ you!” Oz frowned, his forehead and nose scrunching. “And to think I was _right there_!” He was gripping a small rabbit plushie, a white rabbit with a bow. “Alice, Ada, and I, we were all right there!” Oz seemed horrified at the idea, the fact that his best friend had been so close to him, and in so much potential danger.

“It’s _fine_ , really.” Elliot insisted, “Don’t worry about it, OK? Gilbert and Vincent already gave me that speech.” He grimaced, remembering the expression on Vincent’s face. “And Vanessa……….” Even remembering the argument with Vanessa was enough to give Elliot the chills.

Oz’s expression morphed to match Elliot’s, and he hugged his bunny plush tighter. “Ouch…..I bet that wasn’t fun…...”

“No, it really wasn’t.” Elliot agreed, “I’m still surprised I managed to convince her not to report him.”

“At least things all worked out!” Oz pointed out, his cheerful grin returning once more. “So, did you guys plan some time to talk again?”   
  
“Well………...” Elliot shrugged, “We kinda parted ways without giving any contact info or anything. I have no clue how to get in contact with him.” He admitted, beginning to realize that he should have said something about that to Leo.

Oz frowned and bit his lip, clearly thinking the matter over. “Well, maybe you could ask one of his co-workers? They might have his number.”

Elliot pondered this for a moment. He could ask that pink-haired girl. But would she give the number? Most likely not, and it might be against their policy. “I don’t think that will work. I doubt someone would just give contact info of their coworker to someone random, just because they claim that they’re a friend.”

“Yeah………...that’s true……….” Oz sighed, “I guess that was a far-fetched idea. Well then, how about going to see Vincent at work tomorrow? Maybe Leo will show up to get a coffee?”

“That’s a possibility.” Elliot agreed, “I guess it’s better than nothing.”   
  
Before Elliot could say anything else, a voice called from beside Oz. “Oz, who’re you talking to?!” Alice bounded onto Oz’s bed and peered at the screen. “Oh hey, it’s you.” She wrinkled her nose, falling so that she laid across Oz’s back. “Come on Oz, let’s go get some ice cream or something.”   
  
“We got ice cream earlier!” Oz protested, “And I’m talking to Elliot……………”

“There’s no such thing as too much ice cream.” Alice argued, “Or we could get something to eat. I’m thinking a meat buffet, that sounds good.”

“Alice……...” Oz shook his head, “I’ve been out with you and Ada all day, I’m tired. We’ll go out again tomorrow, OK?”

Elliot watched the two for a moment before cutting in, “Should I hang up and let you two settle this?”

“Ah, no, it’s fine.” Oz sat up, as far as he could with Alice on his back anyways. “So what were we talking about? You were gonna go back to the coffee shop tomorrow, right?”

“Yeah, I think I will.” Elliot affirmed, “If Leo doesn’t show up, I’ll still get a coffee at least. I could always bring something to do and hang out over there for a while.”

“Sounds like a good-” Oz was cut off by Alice biting on his cheek. “Alice! Ow! That hurt!”

Alice smirked slyly, leaning against Oz once more. “That’s your own fault for ignoring me.” She tugged gently on his ear, glancing at his computer, and by extension, Elliot.

“If you two are just going to be flirting, I’ll go ahead and hang up now.” Elliot reached for his trackpad, prepping to end the video call. “That OK with you, Oz?”

“Yeah, I guess. Might as well since-” Oz cringed, “Ah, Alice! Stop that!”

“Bye Oz.” Elliot clicked the button to hang up, sighing as the last thing he heard was Alice once again asking for ice cream. “I swear those two……..”

Elliot folded down his laptop, staring at the ceiling for a moment in contemplation. Would going to the coffee shop really be his best bet for finding Leo again? Was there a simpler way, was there something he could have possibly been missing?

Finally, he sighed in resignation. “I guess that’s really the best lead for now.” He spoke aloud to no-one, save for himself. “I guess I might as well follow it.”

Taking a glance at his clock, Elliot was surprised to find it was already 9 PM. _“Alice wanted to go out this late? Well, I guess that does sound like her.”_

Elliot checked his phone, and noticed that he had a text. _“From Oz, I’ll bet._ ” He thought to himself, pulling up his texting app, after which his suspicion was proven correct.

Have a good time tomorrow! I hope Leo shows up!

“That makes two of us.” Elliot muttered, putting away his phone. “I did _not_ just go through all that for him to not show up.”

Elliot turned off his light, laying in the dark for several minutes, thoughts randomly floating in and out of his head. Some were of Leo, some were of the scolding he had received _because of Leo_ , and some were of his plans to hopefully find Leo again.

And so, with those thoughts in mind, Elliot fell asleep, a small smile gracing his lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to give a bit of a fun break during the second half of the chapter (and who doesn't love Alice biting on Oz's cheek?). 
> 
> I also really wanted to get this chapter out for Elliot's birthday, but it's a day late, so happy belated birthday to Elliot! 
> 
> As always, comments are always appreciated!


	6. Chapter 6

“Hey Idiot.”  
  
Elliot looked up from his copy of _Holy Knight,_ to see Leo’s smug, smirking face. “Oh, hey Leo.” His eyebrow quirked a little in annoyance, and he added, “By the way, the name’s _Elliot_.”

“You’d think you’d be happy to see me or something.” Leo teased, pulling out a chair to sit across from Elliot.

“That’s a bit of a stretch.” Elliot mumbled, closing his book. But contrary to his words, he was indeed happy to see Leo. “I was just about to get some coffee. Do you want anything?”

Elliot had spent about an hour sitting on the outside porch of the coffee shop where Vincent worked, reading his book, and of course waiting to see if Leo would show up or not.

“What’s that, you’re treating me?” Leo stood, the chair scraping across the concrete with a harsh metallic sound. “Well then again, who am I to turn down something free? Sure, might as well.”

Elliot rolled his eyes, standing as well. _“Of course he’d say that._ ” He lead the way into the coffee shop, a rush of cold air greeting his face. “Anything in particular?”

“Hmm…...” Leo placed a finger on his chin, as if contemplating the question. “I guess something cold sounds nice……….maybe a mocha frappe?”

“H _ey, that’s what I was going to get!_ ” Elliot thought with a start. _“I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised, they are pretty good after all. But still………._ ” Aloud, he said with a grin, “Well, if nothing else, you’ve got good taste in coffee.”

“Are you trying to insult my tastes in other things?” Leo challenged lightly, following behind Elliot.

“Maybe, maybe not.” Elliot shrugged, getting in line. It wasn’t long, and soon enough Elliot was able to place his order, and the two took a seat at a nearby table. “Although,” He added afterwards, his words directed at Leo with a return to the challenge, “I suppose I forgot one. You have good taste in coffee _and_ music.”  
  
“Ah, that reminds me!” Leo made a fist with one hand, and dropped it into the other, open hand, before reaching across the table to hand Elliot a stack of papers he had been previously holding. “Here.”

Elliot took the papers, curiosity rising. “ _What could this be?_ ” A quick glance solved the puzzle, and Elliot felt surprise replacing curiosity. “You wrote out that piece? The one you played the other day?” He flipped through the pages, remembering the melody as his eyes scanned the notes.

“Yeah. I figured I might as well, since you seemed to like it so much, and I kind of did too. You can keep that copy, if you want to. Play it at home or something.”  
  
“Really?” Elliot stacked the sheet music back together, smiling. “I don’t know if I could do it justice, you have a style that’s way beyond my ability.” It was painful to admit, since Elliot was very prideful of his piano skills. But Leo deserved credit where credit was due, and in this case, credit was most definitely due.

“That’s not necessarily true, but thanks.” Leo accepted the compliment, “I guess it just came naturally. Then again I’m self-taught, so maybe self-taught people have different styles…..”

Elliot’s eyes widened. _“He’s self-taught?! With that kind of talent?! I don’t believe that!”_ He glanced over the sheet music once more, noting the complexities in the score. “You remembered all of it? I’m really impressed!”

“It wasn’t that hard.” Leo shrugged, “But I guess it helps that I was able to write it down fairly quickly. Lauren has a piano, so that was helpful too.”

“ _There’s that name again.”_ Elliot thought, and this time he decided to voice his question aloud. “Who’s Lauren?”

“Hm?” Leo tilted his head, “Oh, Lauren? My foster father. Well, until I move and stuff.”

Elliot felt a tinge of sadness at Leo’s statement, both because it was a reminder that Leo was indeed moving, and because Leo referred to his foster father by name. _“Then again, I guess that makes sense, since he probably doesn’t really feel like a foster family is his family._ ”

“You don’t have to look so sad about it.” Leo commented, leaning against his hands, placing his elbows on the table. “I don’t really care either way. I was upset about leaving this area, not those people.”

Before Elliot could respond, he heard a familiar voice once again call out his name. “Ah, I’ll go get those.” Elliot stood, striding across the room to where Vincent was waiting, drinks in hand. “Thanks Vincent.”

“No problem.” Vincent responded, but he wasn’t looking at Elliot, but rather he was looking at Leo. “Is he causing any trouble?”

“No, he’s not.” Elliot assured, “We’ve just been talking.” With that, he turned away from Vincent, returning to his table. He slid one of the coffees over to Leo, taking a straw and sipping on his own. “Next time it’s your treat.”

“Ah, you mean you won’t get fed up with me today?” Leo teased, then added, “Can’t say the same for your brother. He’s been glaring at me behind your back. He’s going to get a bad rep if he keeps doing that.”

He'll probably do that for a while." Elliot glanced over at Vincent, who simply smiled back. "Like I said, he's insanely protective of both Gilbert and I."  
  
"So I guess I'll just have to resign myself to being glared at?" Leo shook his head, "That might get just a little bit-"  
  
Leo was cut off by a feminine voice calling out to him. "Oh Leo!" The girl who had been working with him appeared behind him suddenly, an odd smile on her face. "Who's that?" She asked, referring to Elliot.  
  
"None of your business, Lottie. I'm already going to have to deal with you every day, can't I at least talk to someone else?" Leo seemed annoyed at Lottie's interruption, to say the least.  
  
"Aww, but it looked like you two were having fun!" Lottie protested, "Can't big sis Lottie join in?"  
  
"No." Leo said flatly, turning away from her. "Anyways, where were we?"

"So, who's this cutie?" Lottie interrupted once again, making her way over to Elliot with a grin. "Is he someone special to you maybe?" She placed one elbow on top of his head, ruffling his hair with her free hand.  
  
"Maybe, maybe not." Leo smirked once again, "Who knows?"  
  
Elliot, however, was completely red in the face. "Why does everyone keep thinking that?!" He protested in a flustered manner.

“Aww, you’re embarrassed! How cute!” Lottie took advantage of Elliot’s present situation, and turned to Leo, “Isn’t he so cute, all flustered like this?”

Leo didn’t answer for a moment, and just stared straight ahead (or so one would assume). “Hmm……. I suppose, although you should have seen him yesterday, he was shouting while I was in the middle of work, and his face was even redder than that.”

“You just _had_ to bring that up, didn’t you?” Elliot groaned, “You just caught me off guard! No-one had ever said anything like that to me before!”

“Ah, I see. Looks like we have things all wrong, don’t we Lottie?” Leo’s remark was loaded with sarcasm, although it wasn’t in a hateful manner, but rather more teasing just meant to further embarrass Elliot. “He doesn’t care about me at all.”

“I didn’t _say that_!” Elliot’s exasperation was rising by the second. “Would you two cut it out?! Yes, Leo, I care about you, but I want to get to know you _as a friend_ , got it?!” He shoved Lottie’s arm off of his head, combing through his hair with one hand to get it back into place.

“Whoa, settle down, we were just teasing.” Lottie frowned, then her eyes fell on the sheets of paper in front of Elliot. “Ooh, what’s this?” She snatched it up, not even waiting for an answer. “Hey, Leo, you wrote this? Can you play it for me someday?”  
  
“We’ll see. Does he have a piano?”

“Does Glen have a……...” Lottie laughed, leaning against the table for support. “Of course Glen has a piano! He used to play it all the time!”

“Well now I wouldn’t know that, would I?” Leo questioned in a slightly irritated tone. “Either way, I’m still talking to someone right now, as you can see, so please leave us alone.”

“Nope, I think I’ll stay right here!” Lottie began to pull up another chair, grinning all the while. “Big sis Lottie gets to join in on the fun!”  
  
“Are you seriously going to keep calling yourself that?” Leo sighed, stirring his coffee with his straw so that some of the whipped cream and chocolate blended in with the rest of the drink. “Just because you convinced him to take me in, does _not_ mean you get to call us siblings, got it?”

Elliot looked between the two, realization beginning to settle in. “This is who you were on the phone with the other day, isn’t it?” Now that he thought about it, the name Lottie had come up while Leo was on the phone.

“Ah, you caught me!” Lottie threw her arms up theatrically, “I’m the one and only Lottie!” Her grin grew, and she took a breath, preparing to speak once again, only to be cut off by a sharp beeping sound. “Oops, that’s my alarm, gotta go!” She pushed back her chair, ruffling Leo’s hair as she passed. “Play that piece for me someday, OK?”

Leo just sighed and shook his head as Lottie swept out the door. “I swear, she can be a big pain sometimes.” He reached up and attempted to comb out his hair with one hand, as Elliot had before, but only succeeded in making things worse.  
  
_“_ _How on earth does he manage to get by with his hair like that?”_ Elliot wondered for probably the thousandth time. It never ceased to amaze him, the fact that Leo’s hair was so horribly, unbelievably messy, not to mention it _covered his eyes_ , and yet he could somehow manage to walk without tripping over everything in his path. “I don’t know, you two seemed to enjoy teaming up against me. _That_ was a pain, if you ask me.”  
  
“Well, no-one asked.” Leo smirked, pulling his straw out of his coffee and using it to point at Elliot. “Besides, you can’t act like you didn’t enjoy it at least a little.”  
  
Elliot couldn’t hold back his temper, and slammed one hand onto the table. “You think that was _funny_?! That I _enjoyed it_?! I did _not_!” He protested emphatically, “How would _you_ feel if someone was saying that to you?!”

“I wouldn’t care.” Leo shrugged, dropping his straw back into his cup. A small dollop of whipped cream had fallen from the edge, puddling on the table in a sticky mess. “I’d just let them say it. I’ve heard way worse, trust me.” For just the slightest moment, his voice wavered, despite his strong words.

“ _What does he mean by that_?” Once again, Elliot felt curiosity rising, but he also felt sadness, hearing the waver in Leo’s voice. _“What could possibly have been said to him, to make him feel like that_?” But he didn’t dare to ask, not yet. All the questions Elliot wanted to ask, all the important ones anyways, were ones that he dared not voice. And so, in a calmer manner, he responded, “I’m sorry. For yelling at you, for saying that to you….……...”

“Ah, what’s this? An apology?” Leo’s voice gained a sarcastic drawl, and he tapped the table with his fingernails, as if considered Elliot’s words. “Fine, apology accepted.” He gripped his coffee cup with one hand, stirring his straw with the other. All that was left was a fluffy mass of whipped cream with small amounts of coffee, which he finished off quickly.

“ _You could have apologized for teasing me, you know_.” Elliot thought, irritation pricking at his mind. “So,” Elliot said instead, “It was a bit of a pain, just waiting to see if you would show up, and believe it or not, I _do_ want to talk to you again.”  
  
Leo turned away long enough to toss his cup into the trash, and when faced Elliot again, his ever-teasing smirk was plastered once more on his face. “Oh, is this going where I think this is going?”  
  
“Shut up.” Elliot mumbled, his face gaining a red tint once more. “ _Yes_ , it’s going where you think it’s going, _yes_ I’m asking for your number, and _no_ , I don’t mean anything by it.” He held out his hand, and asked, “Can I see your-”  
  
“No.” Leo cut him off in a deadpan tone, his hand moving to cover his pocket protectively. “Just tell me your number.”

Elliot’s lips tugged into a frown, Leo’s behavior sending red flags in his brain. “Alright…...” He spoke hesitantly, despite the lingering feeling that something _really_ wasn’t right. He recited his number, which Leo slowly and deliberately read back. Once they were both sure the number had been inputted correctly, Leo sent a text.

Elliot reached for his own phone, which buzzed in his pocket as soon as Leo pressed send.

Hey Idiot.

“Really?” Elliot sighed in annoyance, tucking his phone away. “It’s not really fair that you get to call me idiot, but I don’t get to call you-”  
  
“Say that name again, and I _will_ punch you.” Leo warned, a dangerous edge in his voice. “And I don’t think you’d really want that, since you’re working so hard to be my _friend_.”

“Alright, alright, I get it.” Elliot held out his hands, giving in, for now at least, “But it’s still not fair. Either I get to call you by a stupid nickname, or you call me by name.”

Leo placed a finger on his cheek, and silence fell between them for a minute. “Hmm………..nope. Can’t think of anything, sorry.”

“Of course not.” Elliot rolled his eyes, standing and pushing his chair away. “Anyways, I’ve gotta go.” He picked up the sheet music, the papers rustling in his hands. “See you later?”  
  
“Yeah. Oh wait, one more thing.” Leo pulled the top piece of paper away from Elliot’s hand, grabbing a pen from his pocket and scrawling a word quickly across the sheet. “There, that’s better.”  
  
Elliot glanced at the word written across the page, and quickly understood what Leo had done.  
  
_“Tempeste_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So now Lottie has fully entered the picture! I won't say that she'll be a major character, per se, but she'll definitely have her moments. 
> 
> I kinda just dropped most of the drama and tension in the second half of the chapter XD 
> 
> Oh, and Leo's piece now has a name! I wanted it to kind of be a counter to Elliot's, both in description and name. 
> 
> As always, comments are 100% appreciated! :)


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just as a quick note, I am not a foster child, nor a foster parent. I understand it can be a touchy subject, and the experience of being in a foster home is different for every person. If anyone reading this happens to be a foster child (or parent), please know that I mean no personal disrespect.

“ _Please just let this day be over._ ”

Leo stared down at a bright, happy little ball of sunshine, whose name was Lily. Said ball of sunshine simply smiled back, her eyes wide in curiosity.

“You’re Leo? The one who gets to come home with us? Why is your hair so long in front of your eyes? Are you-” She reached up her arm towards his hair, only to be cut off by Leo slapping it away.

“Leave me alone!” He shouted, only realizing afterwards what he had done. “Crap……….……...” He glanced in desperation at Lottie, who stood beside Lily, although Lottie couldn’t see it.  
  
“Leo…..” The voice who spoke next wasn’t Lottie, but Oswald, or as he was known to Lottie and Lily, Glen. “Please don’t do that, alright?” His tone was even, but rebuking.  
  
The group was seated in the very park where Leo and Elliot had had their first real discussion together. Admittedly, Leo had enjoyed their conversation, if only slightly, moreso than he was this one. “Whatever, can’t promise anything.” Leo muttered, crossing his arms. “Can we just get this over with?”

Glen had insisted that they meet at the park, then Leo would come home with them. “Get what over with?” He questioned, ignoring Leo’s earlier comment.

“You know what I mean.” Leo snapped, “The routine. You introduce yourself, I pretend to care, we go ‘home’, and as soon as I cause an issue you kick me out, and this whole cycle of crap starts again.” He shrugged, and added, “That’s just how it works.” Despite how optimistic Leo had acted with Lottie over the phone, he was now chalking that up to nothing more than an emotional moment with severe lack of judgment.

“Well it’s not this time.” Glen frowned, “I won’t just kick you out for causing trouble.”  
  
“He really won’t.” Lottie assured, “He’s dealt with me for…….4 years now?” She glanced over at Glen thoughtfully, before nodding her head. “Yeah, I guess it’s been about that long.”  
  
“And me too!” Lily piped up, tapping Lottie’s shoulder. “Don’t forget about me!” Her bright eyes shone, “I’ve been here with you the whole time!”

“How could I forget?” Lottie laughed, ruffling her hair. “But anyways, trust me when I say, your experience here will be different than any other foster home, I promise.”

“Doubt it.” Leo mumbled, “I’ve seen more of it than you have.” He pointed out. Lottie had confided in him that Glen was her only foster parent (and now adoptive parent), after finding out that Leo was a foster child. “You don’t know everything about me. You’ve only known me for a month.”

“Ah, nope, longer than that.” Lottie corrected, “Don’t forget how we met.”  
  
“Ah, that’s right, I forgot about that.” Leo admitted, “But that’s irrelevant. I _really_ just want to get this over with. Who knows, maybe I’ll break my record for shortest stay in one house?” He smirked, as if this idea gave him an odd sense of pride.

“Glen is _really_ patient.” Lottie insisted, “Right, Glen?”  
  
“She’s right.” Oswald affirmed softly, a small, sad smile on his lips. “I promise, I’ll do everything I can to try and make our home feel like home to you.”

“Whatever you say.” Leo shifted his backpack from one shoulder to the other, and mumbled, “Can we just go now?”

Lily bounced on her toes, singing to herself “Leo’s coming home with us!”. as she skipped ahead of everyone else to Oswald’s car. Her curly hair slapped against her neck with every step, just as bouncy and jovial as she was.

Leo slid into the backseat, hoping to be alone, but Lottie grinned and quickly clambered in next to him. “C’mon, don’t think you can hide back here all by yourself!” She teased slyly.

“Yes, I can, and yes, I wanted to.” Leo replied bluntly, pulling out his phone. Hesitating for a moment, he sent a quick text, then turned it off.

Oswald glanced in the mirror, and said, “Please behave, you two. Lottie, don’t tease Leo too much. Leo, don’t ignore Lottie.”

“Oooh, who’re you texting? Someone special?” Lottie teased, leaning against Leo’s shoulder . “C’mon, tell big sis Lottie all the juicy info!”

“None of your business, that’s who.” Leo deadpanned, shrugging her off. “Just a friend. Besides, you’re being really annoying.”

Lottie drew back, her smile fading. But that only lasted for a moment, as Lily, in the seat in front of her, turned around, and asked, “Can I show Leo around when we get home?”  
  
Lottie’s smile grew once more, and she ruffled Lily’s hair. “Sure! We’ll all give him the grand tour, how does that sound?”  
  
Lily cheered in delight, and Leo just rolled his eyes, unseen to everyone else. _“Great, I get to get dragged around again._ ” Leo pulled out his phone once again, this time texting a different contact.

“Help me, Idiot.”

A moment later, his phone screen lit up with a new text notification.

“Stop calling me that, and what’s the problem?”

Leo glanced over at Lottie, who was still grinning, before responding.

“I’m suffocating in a sea called Lottie’s antics.” 

“Wish I could help, but I’ve got fencing. Just……..ignore her?”

Leo scoffed slightly at the suggestion, but felt a slight moment of intrigue at the mention of Elliot fencing. _“That actually sounds interesting.”_ He admitted to himself, after a moment of thought.

“Easier said than done, but I’ll try.” 

Leo tucked away his phone, just as Oswald spoke up. “We’re here.”

Lily hopped out of the car with a squeal of excitement, waiting for Leo to come out (who took as slowly as possible, to prolong the “grand tour” that Lottie had suggested). “Come on, I wanna show you the whole house!”

“Maybe we ought to start with his room, and the bathroom.” Lottie suggested, placing one hand on Lily’s shoulder. “Alright?”

Lily pouted, clearly having something else in mind. “Fine………..but my room is next!” She insisted, reaching out for Leo’s hand. She tugged gently, and dragged him inside. “Welcome home!” She flourished with her free hand, and pointed to a room with a door hanging ajar. “That’s your room!” She announced, pulling open the door.

It was a fairly large sized room, big enough for a bed, currently clothed in plain white sheets, and a desk, wooded and painted white. There was plenty of space besides, although a little voice in the back of Leo’s mind spoke, _“Don’t think anything of it. You won’t be adding anything else here.”_

Leo slid his backpack off of his shoulders and placed it on the floor, turning to face Lottie and Lily. “I’m guessing you’re not going to just leave me be now, are you?”

Lottie shook her head, and pointed down at Lily. “She probably won’t stop until you’ve seen the entire house.”

“Yep!” She bounced on her toes, and skipped out, taking a glance over her shoulder to make sure Leo was following. “Here’s the bathroom-” She pointed at one door, “And Glen’s room-” Another door, “Living room, kitchen-” The two were connected in an entertainer style, “And up here……..” She ran up the stairs, Lottie and Leo following behind at a slower pace, “My room, Lottie’s room, other bathroom, and…...” With one final flourish, she turned, completing the tour, “Game room!”

Leo, who hadn’t spoken throughout the entire “grand tour”, finally nodded his head, and said, “Now can I go be alone?”  
  
Lily’s face fell, but Lottie quickly amended the situation. “Lily, Leo’s tired, OK? Just give him some time to settle in. Tell you what, I’ll ask Glen if we can have a game night, alright? That sound like fun?”

Lily nodded, and so Lottie ushered her to her room to give Leo some space.

Leo waited until they had left, and made his way back downstairs, crashing on his bed with a thump. He pulled open his phone, swiping through his contacts once again.

Nearly an hour later, Lottie poked her head into Leo’s room. “Dinner’s ready.” She announced, “Lily wants to wait until everyone is at the table, including you.”

“Be there in a second.” Leo muttered, barely glancing up from his phone. “I’m not really hungry yet, OK? Tell Lily either she can wait, or go ahead without me.”

Lottie frowned, but left the doorframe, leaving him to his own devices.

Leo sighed and laid on his left side, using his arm to prop himself up. He scrolled through his phone, and finally decided on once again texting Elliot.

“Hey Idiot.”

Not even a second later, he received a reply, which he quickly realized was automated.

“I’m in fencing, can’t reply right now.”

Leo rolled his eyes and sat up, just as he heard a perky voice call out “Leo, come on!”. _“And I thought Lottie could be annoying…..….”_ He thought, standing and stretching. “Fine, I’m coming!” When Leo finally sauntered into the kitchen, he saw that no-one had filled their plates yet. _“I guess Lily told them to wait. How touching. Not like it matters to me though.”_

Lily handed Leo a plate, smiling all the while. “Lottie said that you said to wait, so we waited!” She informed him, reaching for a bowl of mashed potatoes. She spooned a considerable amount onto her plate.

“Not so much, Lily. Save some for everyone else.” Oswald scolded gently, taking his own portion.

“Oops.” Lily blushed, offering some to Leo and Lottie.

Leo shook his head, and allowed Lottie to take the potatoes. He instead reached for a plate of turkey, piling a few slices onto his plate.

“You need to eat more than that.” Lottie prodded, carrying her now full plate to the dining room table. “Right, Glen?”

Oswald glanced at Leo’s plate, and nodded. “I know it’s your first night here, so I understand if you’re not very hungry, but please, try to eat a little more than that.”

Leo just rolled his eyes, and begrudgingly scooped out some potatoes. He followed suit with Lottie, sitting at the table, but in a much harsher manner.

“Oh, hey Glen?” Lottie spoke up, pointing with her spoon at Lily, “Lily wanted to play a game tonight. We haven’t done one in a while, and it might be fun, to help Leo settle in here. What do you think?”

“That sounds like a good idea. Have you showed Leo the game closet?”

“Not yet, but we will!” Lily piped up, “Leo gets to pick!” She decided, grinning at the idea. “We have a bunch of games!” She informed Leo with a smile.

Leo glared for a moment at Lily, and although she couldn’t see his eyes, the aura he gave off, as well as his frown, was enough to make his feelings known. “Don’t just volunteer people for things.” He muttered.

“She’s just excited.” Oswald tried to amend the situation, “You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

“Well I don’t want to.” Leo shot back, “I just want to be left alone.” Despite his best efforts, he was already getting tired of the situation.

“Alright, I understand. But you’re free to join in if you-”  
  
“Why?” Leo cut in, his voice shaking. “Why are you….…….”

Oswald’s lips tugged into a sad, melancholy expression. “Why what?” He asked, although he already knew what the answer would be.

"Why are you doing this to me?!" Leo yelled, his voice rising in anger. "Why are you trying to remind me of what a family is supposed to be like?!" He clenched his fists, digging his fingernails into his palms until it hurt. "Why do you think that you can do what no-one else has?!" A single tear ran down his cheek, and he swiped it away harshly. "You can't do it! It's impossible! _You can't replace my father_!"  
  
With that, Leo stormed off, tears streaming down his cheeks. With every step, his chest grew tighter, and when he slammed his door, it grew into a knot so tight he could barely breathe. He fell onto his bed, sobbing into his pillows until they were soaked with tears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the end of chapter 7! I know I keep leaving more questions, but they'll all be answered in due time, I promise. Also the next chapter will most likely go back to focusing on Elliot's perspective for the most part, and might introduce another character! :) 
> 
> as always, comments are definitely welcome, and may even help motivate me to update faster!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And herein lies a new chapter! I know it's been forever and a half, I had completely lost my muse for a loooong time, which I feel awful about. This chapter has been sitting in my writing docs, I had bits and pieces of it, I just had to kinda sew them together, and now it's done! I hope y'all like it!

Elliot stared at his phone, an annoyed crease in his brow. He had just left fencing practice, and had opened his phone to a text message he knew only one person would send. And so he sent one back, rolling his eyes.

“Stop calling me that. What’s going on?”

He waited casually for an answer, leaning against a wall. On days where Vanessa could drive him, they would carpool, since her violin lessons were close by, so he was waiting for her to come pick him up.

“Nope, don’t think I will. Anyways, just having a crappy time I guess. Not quite sure why I texted _you_.”

Elliot sighed, and tried to think of a response. He had to admit, that kind of hurt. After all he had done to try and create a friendship with Leo, and that was the thanks he got? Definitely not the warmest of greetings, that’s for sure.

“The point being that you did. Need to talk about it?”

He held his breath, only slightly conscious of doing so, his mind wandering as he waited. What was causing Leo distress? Was Lottie teasing him? He could see that getting on Leo’s nerves, since the few minutes that he had spent with her was enough to make him annoyed.

“Not really, unless you want to hear me vent for hours about being a freaking foster child, which I don’t even really want to do.”

“Oh….” Elliot muttered aloud, realization settling in. His finger reached across his phone, and before he could really even process what he was doing, he hit the call button on Leo’s contact.

The phone buzzed for several moments, and Elliot was about ready to give up and admit to himself that Leo wasn’t going to pick up, until finally the dial tone stopped, and an annoyed, yet slightly muffled voice came through the receiver.

“What? I thought I said I didn’t want to talk.”

Elliot sighed once again, shaking his head, despite Leo not being able to see it. “Come on, stop trying to act tough. You need someone to talk to, and I’m more than happy to-”  
  
“Shut up.” Leo cut him off, his voice husky and thick. “Shut up, stop acting like you already know me! I just had a crappy day, and you think I’d want to tell _you_ about it?!”

“Well, considering how we met, I wouldn’t be too surprised.” Elliot pointed out, “Considering the fact that-”  
  
“I _know_ that!” Leo snapped, “But that and this are totally different things! And that was your fault! Well, I guess this kind of is too, all things considered, but……..I just don’t want to talk about it, OK? I’m just already so sick of this, I hate it…….”

“Leo, what happened?” Elliot pressured gently, surprising himself with how calm and kind he was being.

“Like I already said, none of your damn business!” Leo’s voice broke down, and finally he whispered, “I just can’t take this……..they’re……….they’re so…...”

Elliot leaned forward, his heart racing. He hadn’t got a feeling from Lottie about anything being wrong, but if they were doing anything to Leo……….“What are they doing? Are they hurting you? I swear if I need to intervene-”  
  
“No, it’s nothing like that!” Leo assured, “It’s not that……..they’re just……..they’re so _kind_.” Pain seeped into Leo’s words, and a sob escaped before he could stop it.  
  
Elliot tilted his head, confusion etched on his face. _“What…….what the hell? wouldn’t he want them to be kind?”_ And so he voiced his question aloud, unsure of what response may be waiting. “Don’t…..don’t you want them to be kind to you?”  
  
“No!” Leo shot back, and there was a moment of heavy silence. “No, I…..I don’t. Well, I _do…_...But I just……..It’s complicated, OK? It’s really complicated and…….”

Hearing Leo so conflicted made Elliot’s heart break, and he gripped his phone tightly in anger. What had made him feel like this? “Look, I can’t say I understand, because I don’t, but I’ll still be here for you, OK? I don’t care how cheesy and cliche this sounds, but I can’t stand to see any one of my friends hurting.”

“You’re really an idiot, you know that, right Idiot?” Leo muttered, a teasing edge to his words, and Elliot could practically see the smirk returning to his face.

“Yeah, I know. I think it’s becoming a bit of a habit.” Elliot admitted, for once not getting upset by the nickname. “But what I said was the truth. If you _ever_ need someone to talk to, about anything at all….”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Leo whispered, “And……..thanks. I really didn’t want to talk, but…...I’m glad I did.”

“Glad I could help.” Elliot couldn’t help but smile, and relief washed over him as he listened to Leo. But before he could say anything else, a bright light came up that made him squint, and he realized it was Vanessa’s car. “Hey, I’ve gotta go, but I’ll call you back, alright?”

“Alright.” Leo agreed, and a moment later Elliot’s phone gave off the tone of an ended call.

“Who were you calling?” Vanessa inquired as Elliot pulled open the passenger side door. She glanced at him inquisitively, but something in her eye hinted that she already knew the answer.

“Leo.” Elliot answered honestly, but even though Vanessa had softened to the idea of allowing Elliot to speak with him, he still felt as if he needed to be cautious, in case she somehow changed her mind.

“I see…...how is he doing?”

Elliot hesitated for a moment, trying to decide what to tell her. He took a breath, and responded, “He’s doing a bit better, I think. I can’t even pretend to know what he’s going through…...”

“Of course not.” Vanessa sighed, “Listen, I still think this was a bad idea. You’re going to get mixed up in all this, and you’re going to get your heart broken. Things like this never end well. It’d be for the best if you just walk away now-”

“We already talked about this.” Elliot interjected, “And I’m not walking away from him. I promised myself that I wouldn’t, and I’m going to keep that. I got him into this situation, I can’t just leave him now.”

“I really can’t change your mind, can I?” Vanessa sighed again, “In that case, just remember that I warned you, things like this never end well.”

“I’ll remember.” Elliot promised.

“ _And I’ll prove you wrong.”_

“Leo?”

Leo groaned, sitting up in his bed. He’d just gotten off the phone with Elliot a few minutes ago, and he had been trying to go to sleep. “What?” He glared over at Lottie, who was peeking into his room.

“I just came to check on you. Glen…..Glen is worried about you, and so is Lily. And…….I am too. I know this is all a change, but-”

“How many times now do I have to tell people to shut up?!” Leo burst out, tears gathering in the corners of his eyes. “Stop trying to convince me that things will be alright! Stop trying to play perfect family with me! And tell _him_ that he will never be my father! He can never even come close! Now, just leave me alone!”

“I know that…….” Lottie soothed, “But I’m not going anywhere. I want you to know that I’m here for you.” She crossed the room, sitting on the edge of Leo’s bed.

“What are you, a one-woman support group?” Leo scoffed, “You know, people would tell me that I’m lucky, that I’m not like other foster children. I didn’t have to be pulled out of a crappy home because of parents who were unable to take care of them, or who didn’t _want_ to take care of them. I don’t have to worry about any of that, because………..”

“Leo, I understand how you feel, but-”  
  
“No, you _don’t_ understand how I feel! You _can’t_ understand how I feel!” Leo raged, digging his fingernails into his palms. “Not unless you’ve been where I’ve been! To have parents who actually loved you, who made you feel like you had a home, and you believed things would stay like that forever……….” He trailed off, tears gathering in his eyes.

“I know our circumstances were different.” Lottie whispered, “I know. My parents treated me like I was garbage that they couldn’t bother with.”

“My father loved me, more than anything.” Leo whispered back, as if he couldn’t bear to say it aloud. “He loved me, so then _why?!_ ” Now his voice raised, despair seeping into his tone. “Why did he leave me like this? I came home to see him dead………….”

Lottie raised an eyebrow. She had never heard Leo open up so much, especially about his father’s death.

“I didn’t understand. I was 10. He left his 10 year old son, and not to mention my mother, and he went and shot himself! Schizophrenia, they told me later. My mom knew all along, but never told me. Then my mom……...”  
  
“What happened?” Lottie asked gently. “Did she……….”

“Kill herself too?” Leo was crying now, the tears streaming down his cheeks. “The courts ruled it suicide. I don’t believe it though. But……..who would listen to a kid? Especially one without proof?”

Lottie nodded in understanding. “And so you got put into foster care.”

“It’s been hell.” Leo admitted, “I got kicked out on my first night, not even a few hours after being there. And since then……...”

“Since then?”

“You know. You already know, so why bother asking? Look, I don’t want to talk anymore.” Leo abruptly brushed Lottie off, laying back down and closing his eyes. “I’m tired, OK? Just leave me alone.” He reached up to clear the tears away from his face, his eyes stinging.

Lottie frowned, and an idea crossed her mind. “Not quite yet. I know something that you need. Follow me, OK?” She stood up from Leo’s bed, beckoning with her hand.

Leo rolled his eyes, but complied, pushing himself up to stand. He felt exhausted, and yet he followed anyways, as Lottie led him into a room across from the kitchen. “Where are we going?”

“You’ll see.” Lottie teased, “Lily left out a room earlier, we don’t use it very much anymore.” She pushed open the door, and motioned Leo to enter. “See? Go on, sit down.”

Leo’s eyes widened, stepping into the room. Situated in the middle was a gorgeous grand piano, black and sleek, and an equally beautiful piano bench. He glanced back at Lottie, then took a seat at the piano. His fingers brushed hesitantly against the keys, and he played middle C lightly, the tone resonating throughout the room.

“Play something.” Lottie urged, “Oh, I know, play that piece you made, you promised you would!”

Leo thought for a moment, memories of the day he had created the song flashing through his mind. It had been a release from his emotions that he had desperately needed. So, making up his mind, he placed his fingers for the first notes of the piece, and took a deep breath.

Lottie stood silently, taking in the beauty of the piece. It rose and fell with emotions that tugged at her heart, pain and anger and sorrow, harsh and intense. It spoke Leo’s heart with every note.

Once again, as Leo played, tears slid down his face, hitting softly his arms and his shirt, but not once did his fingers waver, and as he struck the final chord, he turned away from Lottie, reaching up to clean his face. “That was _Tempeste_.”

“That was beautiful…...” Lottie breathed, awestruck. “I’ve never heard something so-”

“What are you two doing in here?” A voice spoke from behind them, startling the two teens.

“Ah, Glen! I just…...” Lottie faltered, glancing over her shoulder at Leo. “I just wanted him to see it, he’s really good! You should listen! Come on Leo, play it again so he can-”

“No.” Glen cut her off, a frown crossing his lips. “You two get out of there. Lottie, I want to speak with you, alright?”

“Alright…….” Lottie sighed, stepping out of the room. Leo slipped past her, and disappeared into his room.

Lottie shifted on her feet, an uncomfortable silence falling between them as the moments stretched on. Finally she spoke up, “Listen, I just-”

“I know, you’ve said. But I seem to remember making it explicitly clear that I don’t want that room to be opened, it doesn’t even exist. Am I understood?”

“Yes Glen……..” Lottie looked down, her eyes tracing the tile floor. “I understand…….” She bit her lip, working up courage, then added, “But I can’t keep pretending anymore! I can’t keep that door locked, not when I know that you used to-”

“Those days are over. We won’t spoke of them anymore. Am I _understood_?” Glen spoke sternly, reaching past Lottie to close the door. A small click sounded from the door, and he reached into his pocket, pulling out a small key, which he then inserted into the lock.

“Yes Glen……..I won’t talk about it anymore…..”

“ _When will you let us open that door again?”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promised y'all would get some answers, and here they are! Well, part of it anyways. And more questions too XD Let me know what y'all think of the chapter, any guesses as to what secrets the characters may be hiding, really just any comments at all are appreciated :)


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My inspiration is baaaack! It's only been 15 days, wow..........anyhoo, here's chapter 9! Things are really going to start going downhill from here, and it's just gonna snowball. There's going to be a lot of different things going on at once, and each one is going to be bad XD

“Oh, now isn’t this nostalgic?”   
  
Elliot rolled his eyes, glancing up from his copy of _Holy Knight_. He was seated outside of the cafe where Vincent worked, a small mocha in his other hand. “Yeah, I guess it is.” He gave a slight laugh, closing the book and placing it on his lap. He slid another mocha towards Leo, and added, “This is what, our third time being here together?”   
  
“What, you’re keeping track?” Leo teased, taking the mocha with a smirk. “Although I doubt you can count the first time, since……...” He trailed off, and shook his head. “Anyways, let’s just say this is the second.”

“Right……...yeah, the second.” Elliot agreed in a soft tone. “Anyways, you said you had something you wanted to talk to me about?”

“Well, more like show, actually.” Leo reached out his hand, and a small stack of papers rustled. “I wanted to show this to you. It came to me last night, and I think you’ll like it.”   
  
Elliot took the papers, smiling as he realized it was a stack of sheet music. _“I wonder what he came up with this time?”_ As his eyes scanned the notes, his smile grew, and when he finished, he set the papers on the table, glancing over at Leo. “You blended our music?”   
  
“Mhm.” Leo nodded, “I thought it might sound good, so I tried it. Of course I haven’t actually played it yet……….”

Elliot tilted his head in confusion. Didn’t Lottie say that Leo could play the piano at their house? “But wait…...I thought-”

“Yeah, well Lottie lied.” Leo cut him off quickly, “I’m not supposed to actually play that piano, so it seems.”

“Oh……..” Elliot decided it would probably be best to leave it at that, and instead of pressing the matter further, he changed the subject, “So, I’m guessing you want to play the piece? I have a piano at home, but……….” Elliot hesitated, unsure if he should continue.

“I’m sensing a bit of animosity here.” Leo snickered, “Are your parents strict or something? Well, whatever, that’s fine. I was actually thinking we could go back to that music shop. I could buy something, so that we’re not just taking up space.”

“Ah, good idea.” Elliot sighed, standing up. “Let’s do that. I honestly can’t wait to hear how this sounds.” He handed the sheet music back, or tried to anyways, but Leo held out his hand in refusal.

“I……..I was actually hoping _you_ would play it.” He explained, “Since it’s a composition from both of us, you know? I wrote it, you play it?”

Elliot blinked in surprise. He hadn’t been expecting anything like that at all. “Um…..sure.” He stammered, “I guess I could.” He started down the sidewalk, with Leo trailing beside him. “So you wrote this last night? But you don’t even have _Statice’s_ sheet music!”

“I know.” Leo replied, shrugging. “I just remembered it, that’s all. It was such a good piece that I couldn’t forget it if I even tried.”   
  
Elliot blushed at the compliment, but at the same time he couldn’t help but be impressed by Leo’s ability. “You’re really good, you know that? I don’t care if you’re self-taught or taught by a master, to be able to remember a piece like that having only heard it once, and to come up with music the way you do……..”

“What’s this? I’m getting a compliment?” Leo teased, laughing softly. “I guess I should thank you, shouldn’t I? It really wasn’t that hard though, it’s just my talent I guess.” Leo stopped walking, having arrived at the music shop. He pushed open the door, the rush of cold air bristling against his skin.   
  
“It’s still amazing.” Elliot admitted, waving at the shop owner and once again silently asking for permission to use the pianos. The owner nodded, and so he sat down, taking a breath before placing the sheet music on the holder.

Leo stood beside him, and asked, “Do you need me to turn the pages?”

“Ah, yes please.” Elliot accepted gratefully, and he placed his fingers for the first notes of the piece. It was familiar to him, starting out with the gentle melody of _Statice_. Within just a few chords however, it shifted to join with _Tempeste’s_ harsher tone, creating a clash of hope and despair, a dual feeling of the two pieces together as one. The rising and falling of emotion within each piece blended perfectly, sometimes one piece would fade out to leave the other alone, but never for long.   
  
Leo stood and listened, turning the pages when needed. He felt entranced by the music, it took his breath away with each passing moment, hearing the emotions of their two pieces brought together in a duet that spoke both of their hearts, no words required to say what needed to be said.

As Elliot played out the final few bars, it seemed as though it was going to end with the finale of _Statice_ , but instead there was an entirely different set of notes, which once again blended the two emotions of _Statice_ and _Tempeste_ with a contrast of peace and unrest that both soothed and disturbed.

“That…...wow……..” Elliot breathed, resting his hands down by his sides, waves of emotions tumbling through his head faster than he could comprehend them.

Leo simply smiled, and asked, “Don’t you want to know what it’s called?”   
  
“Oh yeah…...I forgot about that!” Elliot realized, flipping to the front page. But it was blank, no name written on it. “Hey, what’s it called?”

“Well, I’m not 100% on this name yet, so we can totally change it if you want…...” Leo started, “I mean since the piece technically belongs to both of us……….”   
  
“Come on, just spit it out already.” Elliot gathered up the music as he spoke, “I’ll let you know if I hate it, OK?”

“OK.” Leo nodded, “So I was thinking about calling it _Mélancolie.”_

Elliot beamed, standing up from the piano bench. “That’s perfect.”

“You think so?” Leo questioned, relieved. “I thought it might fit, you know, with the emotions and all……….”

“I think so.” Elliot affirmed, “It really fits. Let’s keep it like that.”

“Alright.” Leo felt a small smile slipping onto his face. “You can keep that, by the way, it’s a copy. I have the original.” In order to keep his earlier promise, Leo stepped towards the check-out counter, and picked up a small purple pendant. “Huh, didn’t know there’d be jewelry here.” He reached into his pocket to pull out his wallet.

Elliot held out his hand, and said, “Wait, hang on.” He flipped over the pendant to see the price, then pulled out his own wallet. “Let me buy it for you, OK? It’s……...it’s a present.”

“It’s just $10.” Leo protested, “Besides, why buy me a present?”

“Just…….because I want to. For…...being my friend, I guess? And making that piece out of both of ours, and letting me play it…...it was fun…...” Elliot admitted, holding out $10. “Come on, let me buy it for you. I really want to.”

“Alright then……...Idiot.” Leo smirked, handing Elliot the pendant. “Thanks, I’ll take it.”

Elliot sighed and rolled his eyes. _“Of course, I should have seen that coming. Someday I swear, I’m gonna get him for that.”_ He handed the pendant over to the clerk, who rang it up and then took Elliot’s money. “Thank you.” Elliot took back the pendant and handed it to Leo, stepping to move outside of the shop.

Leo followed behind, holding the pendant in his hand. It had a clip on the back, and he fiddled with it for a moment before clipping it to the front of his shirt. “So……..what now?”

“Hmm…...” Elliot tilted his head, thinking for a moment. “I didn’t really think about that…..”

Before Leo could say anything, a familiar voice spoke from behind. “Elliot?”   
  
Elliot groaned, turning to face the voice. “Yes, Oz?”

“It’s been a while since we’ve hung out!” Oz exclaimed, his face bright and cheerful. “Oh hey Leo!” He addressed the black-haired boy with a sunny grin. “What’ve you two been up to?”

Leo glanced over at Oz, and then turned towards Elliot. “Is he always this……….”

“Cheerful?” Elliot finished, “Yeah, pretty much. Some days more than most though.” He reached over and gave Oz a gentle thwap on the head. “We’ve just been hanging out.”

“Well I was actually going to say annoying.” Leo laughed, “But yeah that works too.”

Oz eyed the sheet music in Elliot’s hand with a smile. “Ooh, new sheet music? Did you write it?”

“Oh this?” Elliot held out the music so Oz could see, then continued, “Well, only sort of. I wrote part of it, it’s _Statice_ , but combine with one Leo wrote called _Tempeste_.”

“This looks cool!” Oz handed back the papers, “Think you could play it for me someday?”   
  
Elliot laughed softly, and said “Yeah, I guess so. I guess Leo could play Tempeste for Lottie too, while we’re at it.”

  
  
“Ah, she’s already heard it.” Leo spoke up, “That’s…………..that’s how I found out how I’m _not supposed to play that piano._ ”

“Hey, I thought it might help!” Lottie’s voice called out, as she ran over to join the group. “I thought maybe if he heard you play, it might make him happy again…….”

“What are you doing here, Lottie?” Leo’s voice gained an agitated edge, “I thought you were working?”

“I was! If you would have been keeping track of the time,” She teased, ruffling his hair, “I got off 15 minutes ago.”

“Ah, is it already 6?” Leo questioned, pulling out his phone and turning it on. “Oh, so it is. Well then, I guess you’ll be heading back soon?”

“Yeah, probably. Are you going to hang out here a while longer?” Lottie gestured up the street to where her car was parked, “I’ll come back to pick you up, unless you have a different way to get home.”

  
  
“I walked here, remember? It’s only 20 minutes. I mean unless Elliot wants to drive me…….” Leo snickered, “If he even has a car.”

“I do have a car, but I have fencing in……...wait, you said it’s 6? Crap……...I’ve gotta go soon, or I’ll be late.” Elliot pulled out his own phone, which had just started buzzing from an alarm he had set to notify him about his fencing class.   
  
“Alright, well then Leo how about you come back home with me then? I doubt Glen will want you walking home after dark, and I don’t want you to get in trouble.” Lottie pulled out her car keys from her purse, which made a light jingling sound.

“Elliot?”   
  
Elliot turned to face the person speaking his name, and was greeted with the sight of Vincent frowning. “Vincent? What’s wrong?”

“Get away from them. Now.” Vincent instructed, his eyes dark, his voice devoid of emotion. “I don’t want you speaking to them ever again.”

Elliot shook his head, stepping back. “No, I won’t. I’ve already heard that from Vanessa, and I’ve already made my point. Leo……….Leo is a friend to me, and you can’t take him from me!”

“I said get away!” Vincent spoke forcefully, his eyes now flashing in anger. “I don’t care what Vanessa said! She doesn’t…………….what she said doesn’t matter!”

“Stop it!” Elliot cried, “Leo’s standing _right here_!” He gestured to Leo, “Must you really speak so negatively about him?!”

  
  
“Elliot………..I…...I get it.” Leo cut in, his voice wavering. “I…...won’t talk to you anymore. I don’t want…….don’t want to break up your _family_. Just…….just listen to your brother, OK?” With that, Leo turned on his heel, tears brimming in his eyes.

“Leo!” Lottie called out, turning and chasing after him. “Wait!”

“Vincent! What the hell was that about?!” Elliot demanded, fuming in rage. “How could you do that?!”

“I did what I had to.” Vincent stated in a blunt tone, “That’s all. I don’t have to explain myself. You’ll understand one day.”

“How _dare you_?!” Elliot seethed, “You know what, don’t bother answering that! I can’t even talk to you right now!” He moved away from Vincent, walking towards his car. “I’ve…...I’ve gotta go…..” He too had tears gathering, which slide down his face with every step.

“ _Why did Vincent do that?!”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there you have it! As I said earlier, things are going to get bad, and you can thank Vincent for that XD 
> 
> I had a lot of fun writing the music scene, and coming up with the name for their combined piece. I'd had the idea for a while, and now I finally got to use it! 
> 
> As always, any comments (as long as they're respectful) are always appreciated! :)


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 10 is here my peeps! Oh wow, I never even imagined when I started this that it would get to 10 chapters! I'm really happy that I even got it this far, honestly. I don't know how many more chapters there's going to be, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to actually finish this one, I've got a lot of good momentum going with it. 
> 
> A lot of the scenes in this chapter I had already written out (or at the very least planned out) it was just sewing them all together that took me a bit. 
> 
> also, trigger warning for suicidal content.

Elliot jerked open his car door, still fuming from his interaction with Vincent, nearly 20 minutes later. Aside from that, however, he was also worried about Leo. Was Leo really going to cut off contact between them? He wouldn’t allow that, he _couldn’t_ allow that. 

  
Working through the motions, Elliot grabbing his fencing bag from his trunk, slinging it over his shoulder and closing the trunk with a heavy thud. He pushed open the door to his fencing academy, and was immediately greeting with the sight of his instructor grinning at him, and rows of students both fencing and sitting on the benches taking breaks.

“Ah, you’re late, Elliot!” Said instructor sang cheerfully, watching as Elliot began to warm up. “I thought I might have come all this way for nothing!”

“Ah, Break, sorry, I was just-”

“Talking to Oz, were you?” Break grinned, testing his epee against his shoe. “Well, no matter, you’re here now, so let’s get started, shall we?”

Elliot pulled on his uniform and gauntlet, then drew his epee out of his bag. “Yeah. I’m ready.” He tucked his mask under his arm, not putting it on until he got to the strip.

“Good. Let’s just do a few warm-up touches. But after that I want you to work on some technique.” Break crossed the room to the en garde line, waiting for Elliot to do the same. “Your lunges were a little bit sloppy last time.”

Elliot felt his face burning a little at Break’s critique. He saluted to Break, stood at en garde, and when Break gave the signal, he advanced, his shoes squeaking against the metal of the strip. He landed the tip of his blade on Break’s chest, the metal flexing slightly. Upon Break’s instruction, he repeated the touch, working the motion into his muscle memory.

But with every move, Elliot found himself getting more and more distracted. _“Is Leo OK? I wonder if Lottie managed to talk to him.”_

“Elliot, pay attention!” Break rebuked, “You’re getting sloppy again.”

“Ah, sorry!” Elliot responded, shaken from his thoughts and brought back to reality. He attempted a few more touches, but didn’t get very far before his mind started to wander again.

Break sighed, and signaled for Elliot to stop. He pulled off his mask, and pointed towards one end of the strip. “Alright, let’s get those lunges cleaned up. Your stance is fine, just keep your body lower.”   
  


Elliot nodded, taking his stance for a lunge. Break signaled him to start, so he took a lunge, recovering on Break’s mark.   
  


“That was good,” Break praised, “Just remember to start with your arm, otherwise you give your opponent the advantage. You have a good reach, but if you start with your leg you give away your intent and your opponent can counter easier.”

“Got it.” Elliot waited again for Break to signal, trying to apply the corrections he’d been given. It worked out for a few tries, until once again he found his mind wandering, this time to Vincent. _“What was up with him? He just snapped, out of nowhere!”_

“Elliot, I know you can do better than that.” Break spoke up, as Elliot recovered from a lunge. “Are you alright? You seem a bit distracted.”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Elliot affirmed, “It’s nothing.”   
  


“Hmm, nope, you’re lying.” Break motioned for Elliot to follow him, sitting down on the bench lined against one wall of the academy. “Otherwise you wouldn’t be making that many rookie mistakes. So what’s going on?”

Elliot hesitated, gathering his thoughts before speaking. “There’s this boy, Leo, I met him a while back. He’s…...tempermental,” Elliot laughed softly at this, since he had no room to judge, due to his own temper, “He’s sarcastic, and rude, but I still can’t help but want to get to know him. But everyone else is against it. Vanessa doesn’t try to stop me anymore, but she will still tell me she doesn’t like it. Vincent used to just glare, but now……….”

“What happened?” Break prodded, in a surprisingly gentle tone that left Elliot speechless for a moment.   
  


“Well…….we were just walking around, and out of nowhere Vincent came up behind us…..” Elliot faltered, the memory springing fresh in his mind. “He yelled at us, told me to get away from him. Said that he didn’t have to explain himself to me.”

"I see……….” Break nodded, deep in thought. “Sometimes things just happen that are beyond anyone's control. You can either lose yourself worrying about it, or you can stand up and be there for the ones who need you most."   
  


Elliot couldn't help but feel that Break was speaking from personal experience. "Did you........" He trailed off, unable to finish the sentence.   
  


"Lose someone important?" Break finished, a sad smile crossing his lips. "That I did. The Sinclair family, to be exact."   
  


Elliot tilted his head, trying to remember where he had heard such a name. "That was the name of a fencing academy, right?"   
  


"That's correct." Break affirmed with a nod, "I learned everything I know from the Sinclairs. And I used to babysit their daughter, Emily, while I was waiting for my lessons. She was such a sweet little child....."   
  


Elliot felt a pang of sadness, and barely whispered, "Was?"   
  


"Yes, was." Break looked down, his hands tightening around his epee. "There was....a day when I was watching her, when I shouldn't have. I thought I just had a cold. I was wrong. It was pneumonia."   
  


Elliot's heart felt as if it had stopped. "Oh no......."   
  


"Yes. She contracted it, and.....she died. It was my fault. I should have gone to the doctor that day. I was too young, too naive. And that mistake cost Emily her life."   
  


Elliot couldn't even begin to imagine the pain that Break had felt, having the weight of a child's life on his shoulders. But in the back of his mind, something Break had said didn't quite line up. "Wait. What about the rest of the Sinclairs?"

"Ah, I wondered if you might ask that." Break gave a wry smile, and he placed his hands on his lap, laying his epee down next to him. "After Emily died, I cut my ties with the Sinclairs. It was another one of my naive mistakes. I found out too late that they died, both of them......."   
  


"What happened?" Elliot barely even whispered, feeling Break's grief, and feeling regretful that he had caused Break to open an old wound.   
  


"They were killed. In their own home no less." Break revealed softly, then added, "Well, you don't need to know all the details, I suppose. What I was trying to say was this. Don't cut someone off, just because you think it will make things easier for both of you. It won't, and you'll regret it someday. Be there for the person who needs you."

“Yeah, I will. It’s going to be hard, but I will. Thanks……...thanks for listening. I really needed this.” Elliot admitted, a small smile creeping onto his face, despite the gravity of the conversation.   
  


Break took a breath, preparing to speak, but before he could, a rhythmic beeping noise sounded from across the room.

“Ah, that’s my phone.” Elliot excused himself from the bench and crossed the room, unzipping his bag and shuffling through his stuff to find the device. “I could have sworn I turned this off……….” Once he finally found his phone, he reached to swipe the call away, but hesitated. “Um, I might have to take this……...”

Break nodded, a look of understanding crossing his face. “Go ahead, just don’t take too long.”

Elliot sighed gratefully, slipping out of the academy and answering the phone. “Leo, what’s going on?” From the other end of the receiver, he could hear Leo’s breath hitch, and panic began to rise.

“Listen, I……….”

Elliot gripped his phone tighter, and his next words spilled out faster as his heartbeat sped up, fear building in his chest, “Leo? Talk to me, what’s happening? Do you need me to come over?”

But Leo’s response, it was nothing he ever could have imagined. It left him completely shell-shocked, horror running cold through his blood, a weight dropping onto his chest as though it was crushing him with a thousand pounds.

“ _What the actual hell?!”_

Vincent tugged open the door to his and Gil’s apartment, hardly even paying attention as it slammed shut behind him. He was too absorbed in what had just occurred to even care about the possibility of the neighbors hearing.   
  
Lethargically, he slumped down onto the couch, barely even noticing that the television had flickered on, due to him hitting the remote perched in a precarious fashion on the armrest.

“ _Jack! Glen! Look!”_

“ _What’s that? You have a chessboard?”_

“ _I’m going to teach Gil how to play! He says it’s too hard for him, but I know he can do it, he can do anything!”_

A sob caught in Vincent’s throat, memories of the past flooding back, taking his breath away, leaving him with only a painful, empty feeling. His chest ached and throbbed, feeling as if it was going to be split open. His hands began to shake, and tears gathered, pricking at the corners of his eyes.

“ _Gil, you have to move that piece forward only! It’s the pawn! The only time it can move sideways is when it’s capturing!”  
  
_

_“But I don’t want you to take it!”  
  
_

_“It’s OK Gil, the pawns are the best ones to lose, they’re not as powerful and the only thing they’re good for is blocking the way of the stronger pieces and creating a diversion.”_

“ _That’s mean, Vince! Every piece is important!”_

Vincent glanced down at his hands, then wrapped his arms tightly around his body in a desperate attempt to quell the shaking.

On the television, a news station began to cover a recent arson attempt, a large warehouse blazing in flames, smoke curling upwards in thick, dusty clouds. A suspect had been caught, attempting to take his life.

Vincent stared at the screen, his chest heaving from shock. The red flames that blazed on the screen reflected within his own red eye, and a new wave of memories crashed through his mind, sending him to the floor in panic.

“ _Jack?! Are you alright? You’re crying! What happened?…...”_

“ _Vincent? I’m…….I’m fine. But what about you? Are you…...are you happy here?”_

“ _Me?……...I’m…….I’m happy wherever Gil is happy……….”_

“ _That’s a lie. It’s naughty…..to lie, Vincent. You’re…….you’re not happy, are you?”_

“ _No….I’m not.”_

“ _I can give you a place where you can be happy together.”_  
  


_“Really?!”_

“ _Yes. But first, can you do me a favor?”_

Vincent could no longer hold back tears, they flowed freely as he gasped for breath, seeing within his mind’s eye the catastrophic fire that had claimed the lives of many people within Jack’s apartment building, where he and Gilbert had also lived. It had blazed for hours, catching the attention of media throughout the city. In a miraculous turn of events, both he and Gilbert had survived, but Gilbert was so traumatized that he remembered next to nothing of the events, nor of Jack and Glen. All he knew was that they had been in a fire, and he believed that that was all Vincent could remember as well, due to Vincent consistently lying about the matter.

Panic continued to grow in Vincent’s chest, as he sat immobilized by the sheer distress of the memories plaguing his mind. He tried desperately to move, and finally, _finally_ , his body obeyed, so he pulled himself off the floor, staggering towards the other end of the apartment, but not before turning off the TV.

Without a second thought, Vincent yanked open a drawer where he kept various crafting supplies, and grabbed a pair of scissors. Sobs were racking his entire body, without stopping. He flicked the blades apart harshly, his hands shaking. “I’m sorry, Gil…...” He whispered, clutching a picture of the two of them in his free hand.

He closed his eyes, but before he could strike, a click in the lock made him freeze, his blood running cold. His eyes snapped open, staring at the door in agonizing fear.

Gilbert pulled the door open, a smile on his face. But as soon as he laid his eyes on Vincent, that smile froze, then dropped, exchanged for an expression of pure horror. “What the hell are you doing?!” He yelled, letting go of the door handle, and it slammed harshly behind him. “Put those damn scissors _down!”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's chapter 10! Break was the one I had promised to introduce a few chapters back XD Oh, and credit goes to my sister for helping me with the fencing scene, since she's a fencer. 
> 
> And now finally we're starting to get some answers! Well, a few at least. There's still some secrets left, definitely. Things also won't get better for a while yet, sadly.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well, here it is, chapter 11! Things are definitely getting way worse, to say the least. 
> 
> I know I said that Lottie probably wouldn't be a prominent character, but I just couldn't help myself XD she and Break are probably going to play a bigger part than I had planned in the beginning 
> 
> A few pieces of this chapter I had planned a long time ago, especially with Vincent. Now I'm excited that I finally get to use it. 
> 
> once again though, trigger warning for suicidal thoughts.

“What the hell is with that guy?!” Leo fumed, slamming a fist into his pillow. He had rode home with Lottie in silence, save for his occasional bouts of tears. Lottie had for once not tried to speak with him, to give him room to cry. Once she had driven into the driveway, Leo had jumped from the car and made a beeline for his bedroom, demanding to be left alone.

“Hey Leo?” Lottie knocked on the door, and poked her head in. “Lily wants to go outside, so Glen and I are going out back, if you want to-”

  
  
“I don’t care, and no.” Leo interjected with a harsh edge in his tone. “I thought I said to leave me alone.”

Lottie frowned, and whispered softly, “Alright. You can come join us though, if you change your mind.”

“Whatever.” Leo mumbled, waiting until she left to curl up in a ball and begin crying again. “Who does he think he is?! I finally……..finally found a _friend_ , and now……...”

From the other side of the house, Leo heard the back door slamming shut, and he jerked up his head, an idea forming. It was a stupid, foolish idea, but an idea nonetheless. And so he stood, clearing away his tears with a swipe of his hand. He was lightheaded, and slightly dizzy, but that didn’t deter him from his task.

He reached into his backpack, pulling out two paperclips, and crossed the house, approaching the locked door to the piano room. With shaking hands, Leo picked the lock, hearing a small click as the mechanism released. He quickly pocketed the paperclips, yanking open the door and stepping inside.

Leo took a minute to look around the room, now that he was in there alone. It was furnished with a few mahogany polished bookshelves lined with rows of sheet music, a violin situated on top of one bookshelf, and a tambourine on another. _“For Lottie and Lily I guess.”_ He thought, rifling through the sheet music.

But none of it really caught his eye, until he saw something sticking out from the corner of one of the bookshelves. He knelt down and gently pulled it out, his eyes darting across the page. _“Huh, this actually looks interesting.”_ He mused to himself, crossing the room and placing the sheet music into the stand. He sat on the bench, his eyes quickly scanning the first few bars.

From the first note, Leo was captivated, playing the song with his entire soul. It was an odd mix of soothing and haunting, and conveyed a message that Leo couldn’t quite grasp. It tugged at his heart, and had a nostalgic feeling.

Finally, his hands stilled, the emotional high he always got from playing slowly subsiding, leaving the room feeling empty and still. He stood, and gathered up the music, turning to leave. But before he could take a step, he froze, his heart stopping.

“What…….are you doing?” Glen demanded, a frown etched on his face. “Get out of there.”

Leo nearly dropped the papers, his hands trembling. He hadn’t expected everyone to return inside so soon. “I……...I’m sorry…...”

“Get out, now.” Glen repeated, “Don’t……..don’t remind me about him……..”

Leo forced his legs to move, stepping past Glen, still clutching the sheet music. When he reached his room, he collapsed onto his bed. Outside the door, he could hear Glen and Lottie arguing, which he tried desperately to tune out.

“It’s not Leo’s fault! He just needs an outlet! I’m the one who showed it to him, so blame me!”

Leo pulled his knees up against himself, laying his head down on them. _“Stop…_ _...stop fighting!”_ He begged silently, _“I don’t want to break any more families apart!”_

“Nevertheless, I don’t want anyone to go in there! I locked it for a reason, and you know that Lottie!”

“Glen, that was years ago! I _wasn’t even here yet_! You let us go in there to play our instruments, but you won’t use your own! When are you ever going to let it go?!”

Leo felt tears welling up in his eyes, hot and painful, and a strangled cry escaped from his throat before he could suppress it.

“I am letting it go!” Glen shouted back, “That’s why I don’t want to think about it anymore!”

  
  
“You’re not letting it go! You’re just shoving it away! You can’t do that Glen, it will _break you_!”

“You don’t know that, Lottie! You’re still a _child_!”

Leo clenched his fists, unable to bear hearing the fighting anymore. His feelings were only amplified by the fresh reminder that he had caused a rift in Elliot’s family, as well as between Lottie and Glen. He lifted his head, his cheeks streaked with tears, his chest tight as he sobbed. _“I knew…..I shouldn’t have agreed to this……..I…….I can’t stay here……...”_

With blurred vision, Leo pulled up his contact list. Finding the contact he was looking for, he reached his thumb towards the call option. And hesitated. Should he call? Should he give himself that chance to say goodbye? Or should he just leave, leave everything behind without looking back?

Finally, taking a deep breath, he pressed down on the call button, his hand shaking as the dial tone sounded from his speaker.

“ _P_ _lease answer!”_ he begged silently, holding his phone in an iron grip. _“_ _P_ _lease, if not ever again, at least now!”_

Seconds seemed to stretch into minutes, then hours, as the dial tone continued to ring. Leo felt anxiety welling in his chest, fighting against his urge to simply hang up and leave. “ _J_ _ust a few more moments.”_ he tried to convince himself, glancing at the phone.

After what felt like an eternity, the dial tone stopped, and Leo felt his breath hitch.

“Leo? What’s going on?”

Leo squeezed his eyes shut, trying desperately to force his tears to subside. A painful lump had formed in his throat, and he barely managed to whisper, “Listen, I…….”

“Leo? Talk to me, what’s happening? Do you need me to come over?”

“No, I don’t.” Leo rejected, and working up his courage, he admitted, “Listen, I made a mistake. I’m sorry. Goodbye, Elliot.”

“Leo, what are you talking about? Wait, don’t hang up!” Elliot’s voice came through the receiver, panicked and confused and desperate.

Ignoring Elliot’s cries, Leo hung up the call, and flipped his phone over, wrenching off the hard plastic case. He pulled off the backing, but nearly dropped it when it vibrated, alerting him to an incoming call. Flipping the phone back over, he saw Elliot’s name plastered across the screen.

Without even pausing, he swiped the call away, and continued with his original task. With deft fingers, he removed his SD card, placing it into a small plastic snack bag. The SIM card came next, and finally, the battery.

  
Grabbing his backpack from the floor, he slung it over his shoulder, and jerked open the window. Taking a deep breath, he slid out the frame, not even taking a glance back, and started down the road, breaking into a sprint to put as much distance as he could before they realized he was gone.

Gilbert stood still, feeling as if time had frozen. The sight in front of him was horrifying. His own brother was holding scissors mere inches away from his arm, and was sobbing uncontrollably. He didn’t know what to do. If he moved, it might cause Vincent to continue with the attempt, but if he didn’t, he may not reach Vincent in time.

“Gil!” Vincent choked out, breathing raggedly. “Don’t…...don’t come closer!” He shifted the blade, and his body, to face Gilbert completely. “Please, just let me do this! I…….I can’t take it anymore!”

Gilbert felt many emotions flash through him at once. He wanted to cry, but he couldn’t. He had to keep his composure, to keep Vincent safe. He took a step, his face pleading. “Vince, don’t do this. Please, listen to me. Put those down.”

“No!” Vincent screamed, dropping the photograph. He glanced down, and his hand reached for a bottle of glue. With blurred vision, he threw it, missing Gilbert’s shoulder by a few inches. It hit the wall instead, cracking the plaster and leaving a small hole.

“Vince, put them down!” Gilbert could no longer hold himself back. He advanced on his brother, reaching for the hand that was holding the scissors.

“No! Please, don’t! Stay away!” Vincent tensed, jerking his arm back. “Please, just let me _die!”_

Horror spread through Gilbert once more. His suspicions had just been confirmed. Vincent hadn’t been attempting self-harm, but suicide. He clasped Vincent’s hand, and forced it to the side. He had always been the stronger of the two, which he now was grateful for more than ever. “I won’t! I need you, Vince! You’re my brother and _I love you_!”

Vincent fought back, but with Gilbert now in the way, he was afraid of hurting him by accident. Even in his state of distress, hurting Gilbert was something he couldn’t do. “Please, let go!”

“Like hell I will!” Gilbert took advantage of Vincent’s hesitation, and pulled the scissors free of his grasp. He closed them, and threw them to the floor. “Why are you doing this?!”  
  


“Because I _want to die_!” Now without the scissors in his hand, Vincent continued to struggle against Gilbert, trying desperately to reach past him. “I can’t live with myself anymore!” The constant flow of tears was beginning to sting his eyes, but the pain in his heart was so unbearable that he hardly even noticed. “All this time, I’ve just wanted you to be able to live your life, and to make you happy, I would…..I would……...”

Realization hit Gilbert like a ton of bricks, and he pulled Vincent closer to him, his own body shaking from horror. How had he not noticed it earlier? “Vince, _listen to me._ What happened back then was not your fault, and _I don’t want you to die_!” Gilbert held his brother tightly, tears falling down his cheeks. It hurt him to see Vincent like this, so willing to throw his life away, so willing to bring him happiness that he would die for it. “That won’t make me happy, not in the slightest! You’re my brother, Vincent! I care about you!”

“Don’t you understand?!” Vincent screamed, hysteria evident in his heterochromatic eyes. “I never wanted to live!” His breath was coming out in sporadic jerks, and every one seemed to cause him pain. “Not since that day, not since that mistake. All I want is for you to live your life without the burden of me, without having to be reminded of what I’ve done!”

“But you didn’t _do_ anything!” Gilbert insisted, “Neither of us remember it!” He ran one hand through Vincent’s hair in an attempt to soothe him.

  
“That…….that was a lie…...” Vincent admitted through sobs, “I _do_ remember it.”

“What?” Gilbert gaped, pushing back enough to see Vincent’s face. “You remember everything?”

  
“Not everything.” Vincent lied, shaking his head. “Just…...just fragments.” His eyes were still wild and unfocused, with tinges of hysteria.

“You said ‘that mistake’,” Gilbert recalled, “What mistake? What _happened_?”

“Nothing!” Vincent protested aggressively, “Nothing that you need to know! I……..I don’t want you to know about it! It would hurt you too much!” Vincent took advantage of Gilbert’s loosened grip, and lunged past him in a desperate attempt to grab the scissors. “I just want you to be happy!”

“Vince stop it!” Gilbert tackled Vincent, pushing him away from the scissors. “If you go through with this, I _won’t be happy_!” He insisted, kicking the scissors as far away as he could. “When will you see that?! I love you Vince! I’ll say it as many times as I need to! There’s absolutely no way I’m going to let you commit suicide! And definitely not because you think it will make me happy!”

  
“But I _can’t live with myself anymore!!_ ” Vincent screamed, struggling against Gilbert’s grasp. “Please, let go! I want to do this!”

“No! I……...I can’t let you do that to yourself!” Gilbert felt his heart being shattered as he listen to Vincent’s broken words, the brother he loved, despite all their quarrels, being reduced to suicidal thoughts over something he didn’t even fully comprehend. “I can call a hospital, get you some therapy, you can recover from this!”

  
“No!” Vincent vehemently denied, shaking his head, his golden locks falling across his shoulders, some tangled from their struggle. “I can’t……..I can’t do that! I can’t learn to live, I don’t _want_ to live!”

“Vince!” Gilbert cried, “Please……….don’t do this to me…...don’t do this to _yourself_.” His voice broke with emotion, his hands shaking as he held Vincent down.

“But I’m doing it _for you_!” Vincent insisted, tears streaming down his cheeks that burned at his eyelids as they formed. “Can’t you understand how much I _hate myself?!_ You’re better off _without me!”_

“No, I’m not!” Gilbert spoke in a forced whisper, “I don’t know where you ever got that idea! How could I…….how could I live with myself if I allowed my own brother to die because he thought it would help me?! I couldn’t!”

“Please……..Gil…….please!” Vincent begged, kicking his feet against Gilbert’s thighs. Luckily for Gilbert, Vincent had already taken his shoes off, leaving him in his stocking feet. But then, his desperate pleas changed to a frightened cry. “Gil, I can’t…...I can’t see!” Vincent’s eyes widened in panic, his body going slack.

“Vince!” Gilbert shifted his arms to cradle his brother away from the ground, taking a moment to breath as he picked Vincent up and carefully laid him on the couch, propping his legs up to help him recover. “Vince……...why didn’t you tell me?” Silently, Gilbert reached down and grabbed the discarded scissors, pulling open the drawer where they were kept and collecting all of them. He quickly dropped them into a box, and slid it under their entertainment system.

“ _I swear, I don’t want you to die!”_

“Elliot? Are you alright?” Break peeked his head out of the door of the academy, glancing quizzically at Elliot, noting his dazed facial expression and clenched fists. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Elliot stared at his phone, his expression blank. “Break, I gotta go….I…..I can’t…..Something’s wrong…..with…...Leo…...” Unable to structure a fully coherent sentence, Elliot trailed off, reaching to shove his phone back into his pocket, only for it to start buzzing again. He jerked his arm back from shock, nearly dropping the device. His eyes traveled to the contact name, hoping desperately that it would be Leo. However the name showed up as Gilbert. Elliot answered, holding the phone up to his ear.

“Elliot?” Gilbert’s voice came through the receiver, slightly panicked, but also tired. “Listen, I’m really sorry I can’t tell you this to your face, but I can’t leave the house and someone needs to know. Vince……..Vince just attempted suicide…...”

Elliot froze, feeling like his heart had just dropped. “What?!” He yelled, his mind racing. _“No….no, no, no! This can’t be…..this can’t be happening! Wait………..Leo!”_

  
“He’s safe, thank goodness, I caught him in time, but I don’t want to risk leaving him alone, and he’s in no condition to go anywhere right now, he just passed out. I don’t think it’s anything to worry about, it was probably just from stress. I’m considering calling the hospital, if only to get him mental help, but until then I won't be leaving the house.”

Elliot couldn’t combat the overwhelming, crushing sense of grief and despair washing over him. Not only had a friend that he had just started to get to know call him and say _goodbye_ , but his own adopted brother had attempted suicide on top of that?! “I………..I don’t…….” He stammered, “I don’t know what to do…….”

  
“Elliot? Did something else happen?” Gilbert questioned, “I can handle Vince on my own, if there’s something you need to take care of…….”

“Yeah…..” Elliot glanced back at Break, then spoke into the receiver, “I’ve gotta go. I’ll……..I’ll call you back later. And…...tell Vincent to hang in there, OK?” His eyes teared up as he spoke, then pressed the end call button. “Break, I’ve gotta go…….I’m…...”  
  
Break held out a comforting hand, and said, “It’s OK. Go on, don’t worry about your lesson. You can always make it up later. Remember what I said? Be there for the people who need you.”

  
“Thanks Break.” Elliot breathed a sigh of relief, but only for a moment, as he packed his fencing bag back into his car, jumping into the driver’s seat and speeding away with a screech of his tires.

“ _Leo I swear if you die, I’ll never forgive you!”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well, there you have it. this is probably the most intense chapter so far, but trust me, there's more where that came from. I'm hoping to have the next chapter soon, and it's gonna be just as heartbreaking. 
> 
> as always, comments are appreciated :)


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and here's chapter 12! This took a lot longer than I wanted for it to, but I hope it was worth the wait. It's starting to get to some of the thicker parts of the plot, so be ready for a bumpy ride XD oh, and remember back when I said Lottie wasn't going to be a main character? Yeah........I was way wrong LOL 
> 
> Once again, trigger warning for suicidal content. 
> 
> oh, and I changed a portion of the last chapter, so I'd recommend re-reading that before reading this chapter. (the portion with Leo and Glen).

_“Leo please! Answer your damn phone!”_

Elliot sped along the road, gripping the steering wheel tight enough to turn his knuckles white. Every few minutes, he glanced down at his phone, his heart beating faster as the voicemail tone continuously sounded.

He was grateful that Leo had texted him his address, since now he was in desperate need of it. After what felt like an eternity, he pulled into Leo’s neighborhood, screeching to a halt in front of the right house. He yanked open his car door, just as the front door opened, and Lottie rushed out, stopping for a moment to face back towards it.

“Glen, I’m going to look for him!” She turned away from the door, freezing when she saw Elliot. “What’re you doing here?” Her cheeks were streaked with tears, which were still running down her face. “I thought that you…...”

Elliot shook his head, unable to keep a lump from rising in his throat as he responded, “I don’t care about what Vincent said right now. He…...he called me. I thought……..” He hesitated, then continued painfully, “I thought he was going to kill himself.”

Lottie’s eyes widened, and she glanced back at Leo’s window, still opened. “As far as I know, he just left. I’m going to look for him.” She stepped past Elliot, unlocking her car.

“I’ll help.” Elliot offered quickly, “But here, give me your number first.” He pulled out his phone and handed it to Lottie.

“Good idea.” Lottie agreed, taking his phone and inputting her number. “Call me if you find him, and I’ll do the same. Good luck.”

“Yeah, same to you.” Elliot could barely contain his anxiety as he drove out of the neighborhood, keeping an eye out for any sign of Leo. _“Think, Elliot. If you were Leo, where would you go?”_

He tried desperately to remember anything he had ever heard about runaways, which admittedly wasn’t very much. “He can’t have gone very far, unless he got a taxi or something. Crap…….”

_“Leo, where the hell are you?!”_

_“27…..28…...29…….”_

29 times. That was the number of times Gilbert had paced back and forth across the floor of the apartment, his mind racing as he debated whether or not to take Vincent to the hospital. He had yet to open his eyes, which worried him, but it also gave him a chance to think.

Finally, making up his mind with a sigh, he pulled out his phone again, calling 911. His hands shook, barely able to press the buttons.

“911, what is your emergency?”

Gilbert took a steadying breath, and answered,“Medical emergency.” Gilbert glanced over at Vincent, who had yet to open his eyes. “My brother passed out and hasn’t regained consciousness. He was in extreme stress prior to passing out and-”

“Gil?…….” Vincent stirred, reaching a hand up to his forehead. His eyes fluttered open, blinking from the sudden intake of light. “Gil?”

“Well, he’s awake now.” Gilbert corrected himself, “Should I still have him taken in?”

“What were his symptoms prior to falling unconscious?”

“Gil!” Vincent pushed up from the couch, staring at Gilbert in shock. “No, don’t!”

Gilbert felt his heart wrench, knowing that this was for the best, but feeling that it was hurting Vincent despite the necessity. “He couldn’t see, and……..” He trailed off, squeezing his free hand into a fist. “And he…..”

“Gil!” Vincent once again protested, but before he could say anything else, fatigue overtook him, and he crashed back to the couch, closing his eyes.

“And?” The emergency responder prompted.

“And…….he was suicidal.” Gilbert spoke in a strained voice, “He was in the middle of an attempt when I came home. We fought for a while, and then he passed out. He just fell back on the couch, I don’t think he can move.”

“Alright, help will be on the way. If you could please give me some more information, and stay on the line.”

Gilbert gave his phone number, address, and a physical description of both Vincent and himself. While he was speaking, Vincent once again opened his eyes, but this time stayed laying on the couch.

“Gil, please…..don’t…..” He whispered, panicked. “I…...I can’t go back there…..”

Gilbert felt his heart stop, and he gaped in shock. “You…...you _what_?!”

Vincent’s eyes widened, and he shook his head, sputtering out hastily, “No, I…..I didn’t mean it like that!” He winced in pain, his head throbbing.

“Then what _did_ you mean it like?!” Gilbert demanded, “And for _once_ , for the love of all things on this earth, _tell me the truth_!” He had momentarily forgotten about the 911 dispatcher, and when he remembered, he added into the phone, “Sorry, he woke up again, and said something that shocked me. I’ll…..I’ll try to keep my cool.”

“Do you remember……….when you went to stay with the Vessalius family?” Vincent questioned, leaning farther back back against the couch, his expression unreadable.

“Y……..yes.” Gilbert nodded, “I remember that. We were both still young…….”

“I……..I _attempted_ back then. And father…….he couldn’t bare to lose face of his precious public image, so he covered it up. Shipped me off to a hospital, which was hell, by the way, and of course he had to get you out of the picture, keep you blissfully ignorant……….if only for his own benefit.” Vincent scoffed, a disdainful sneer crossing his face. “All he cared about was himself, no concern that his own son, if I could even be called such, had _just tried to kill himself_.”

“All these years, and I never even knew……….” Gilbert looked down, unable to fully comprehend what was being told to him. “I never even realized……...that you’ve felt this way……..”

“I never wanted you to know.” Vincent laughed as much as he could, a self-loathing, broken, hollow laugh. “All I ever wanted was for you to live the life you deserved, without me in the way.”

“Vince………….” Gilbert shook his head, his black locks falling against his face. “I’ll say it as many times as I need to, until you will believe me. I don’t want you to die. I love you, and I don’t blame you for anything, alright?”

“But you _should_.” Vincent countered, “You don’t realize it, but you should hate me, _loath_ me, you should wish that I was dead, just as much as I wish for it myself. You should……...”

Before Gilbert could respond, a harsh knock sounded from the door behind him. He glanced back, then spoke gently to Vincent. “I’m sorry, really I am. I didn’t want to do this. But I love you too much to let you do that to yourself. Will you try, for me?”

“I can’t promise anything.” Vincent whispered, turning his head away. “But I don’t really have a choice, do I?”

“No, not really.” Gilbert slowly, carefully backed up towards the door, never taking his eyes off of Vincent. He reached back and unlocked the door, stepping forward to allow the EMTs and police inside.

Leo brought his steps down to a normal pace, to avoid seeming suspicious to the people around him. He pulled tight a hoodie he had quickly bought at a gas station convenience store, and glanced at the time on his watch. “8 o’clock. It’s been 40 minutes. Lottie’s probably figured it out by now, I’ve probably been reported missing, as usual. And Elliot……….” Shaking his head, Leo kept an eye on the people around him as he made his way down the sidewalk.

As he passed by one building, he glanced at the sign on the wall, and stopped for a moment, curiosity rising despite his situation. “Is this where Elliot was going?” He wondered, before moving on, or trying to anyways. Before he could get very far, a hand tapped him on the shoulder.

“Hey kid, saw you looking in. You curious?” A masculine voice asked, a playful, teasing tone to his words.

“Ah, no, not really.” Leo shrugged him off, shaking his head. “I’ve got somewhere else to be, I just have never seen anyone fencing before.”

“Aww, too busy to stop and smell the roses?” The owner of the voice stepped in front of Leo, grinning lightly. “Where could a kid like you be going in such a rush?”

“I have to run down to the pharmacy, my sister is sick and my dad is the only one home.” Leo lied, pointing ahead of him to a pharmacy not far off. “So if you’ll excuse me-”

“Hmm, nope, you’re lying.” He inspected Leo’s attire and demeanor, along with the backpack slung over his shoulder. “Running away, are we?”

“No, I already told you, my sister is sick.” Leo gritted his teeth, silently begging for the man to just hurry up and leave him alone. “I really need to get going now.” He tried to sidestep away, and rolled his eyes in frustration as the man followed his steps.

“C’mon kid, surely you don’t think that you’re being discreet, do you? I know a runaway when I see one, and you fit the bill perfectly.”

“Please, for the last time, just leave me alone. If I don’t hurry then my sister is going to-”

“Catch up with you.” The man finished for him, “It’s OK, you don’t have to lie. You’d be surprised, really, by the amount of things I’ve seen around here. Runaways, drunkards, and trust me, things you don’t want me repeating to a kid like you. The name’s Break, by the way. Yours?”

Leo groaned, holding his hands out in defeat. “Fine, whatever. You’re right. But I’m not going back. Just pretend you didn’t see me. You don’t even know my name, so there’s nothing you can do about it.”

“Hmm, that’s true enough, but as I’ve said, I’ve seen a lot.” The playful grin once donning his lips was replaced by a serious line. “Listen kid, I don’t know your situation, but running away from your problems isn’t the answer.”

“You’re right, you _don’t_ know my situation.” Leo agreed, “So just shut up and let me be.”

Before either of them could speak another word, a car pulled into the parking lot, and the owner dashed over to the two of them. “Leo!”

“Crap.” Leo muttered, but then he jolted upon realizing who it was. “No, oh _no_. _Crap_.”

“ _Ah, so this is the infamous Leo_.” Break thought, a slight smile tugging at his lips. “Hi, Elliot!” He spoke in a sing-song voice, waving to his student. “Leo and I have been having a nice little chat!”

“Leo, what the hell?!” Elliot demanded, storming up to Leo directly. “How could you do that?! I thought……...I really thought……..”

Leo stepped back, looking down. “You what? Listen, I never meant for you-”

“I thought you were going to kill yourself, you idiot!” Elliot cried, “What else was I supposed to think?! Calling me and saying _goodbye_ , while you were crying like crazy?!”

“I wasn’t going to kill myself!” Leo shot back, “I’m not that desperate!”

“Well how was I supposed to know!?” Elliot grasped Leo’s collar, pulling him closer. “I was so scared of what you might do to yourself! I _never_ want to hear you say goodbye again! How could you just run away, after everything we’ve been through?!” His fingers brushed against Leo’s pendant, and he only felt angrier at the sight of it.

“Ah, I’m afraid you’ve got things wrong.” Break cut in, and both of the boys turned to stare at him in surprise. “Leo here wasn’t running away.” He patted Elliot on the shoulder, and added, “He just needed a minute to cool down and gather his thoughts.”

Elliot glanced at Leo, then back to Break. “Wait…... _what_?!” He released Leo’s collar, his arms dropping by his sides.

Leo was just as shocked, and all he could do was shake his head. “I….”

“You know, haven’t you ever needed a minute to breathe, Elliot? I’m sure you have, if I remember correctly then you’ve-”

“We don’t need to talk about that!” Elliot interrupted, “That doesn’t explain why you said goodbye!” He directed that statement towards Leo, glaring at him.

“That’s because I-!”

“Oh come now, haven’t you said things in the heat of the moment, Elliot?” Break once again cut in, “If I recall then you did say that-”

“Break, please just shut up!” Elliot turned on Break, “I _know_ what I said, but that still doesn’t explain what _he_ said!”

“Because I didn’t want to tear your family apart!” Leo screamed, his hands shaking. “I didn’t want to…….” He whispered, “I’ve done it so much already. And that’s to people I didn’t even care about! Listen, Elliot, I _care_ about you! And you clearly care about your brother, so I don’t want you to get involved anymore!”

Elliot felt his heart drop, hearing Leo’s passionate words. And it was only made worse by the fact that something had happened, that Vincent had attempted suicide after their interaction. But he couldn’t tell Leo that, not right now. He had to keep it to himself, or everything he had just done would be for nothing. “Leo……...you won’t tear us apart. Don’t worry about what Vincent said. I promise, he won’t try to keep us apart.” That much was true at least, despite the fact that it was for a reason he wished that it wasn’t.

“I still don’t want you to get involved anymore……...” Leo whispered, “I don’t want to hurt you….”

“I’m not giving up on you!” Elliot insisted, “Not now, not ever! We’ve been through too much together for me to even think about turning my back on you! And if you even _dare_ think that it will be best for both of us, then you are _wrong_!” He reached into his pocket and pulled out his car keys. “Now come on, I’m taking you back.”

“What, so the police can have a nice little talk with me?” Leo scoffed, crossing his arms.

“No, he hasn’t reported you missing yet. Lottie insisted that he give us 30 minutes. 30 minutes, by the way, is almost up. So I’d better text Lottie real quick.” Elliot pulled out his phone, and opened his messaging app.

Leo, on the other hand, could only just stare for several moments. Finally he managed to say, “He could get in a _lot_ of trouble for that.”

“I know, and he knows.” Elliot finished typing, and looked back up at Leo. “But there’s no problem, because you weren’t running away, right?”

“R…….right.” Leo nodded, “You’re right. I won’t run away anymore.”

Elliot glanced over at Leo as he said that, tucking his phone away. “Right, no more running away. Now, let’s go.” He started towards his car, clicking the automatic button to unlock it.

Leo turned to Break, who was simply watching the interaction between the two. “Why did you cover for me?”

Break shrugged, looking past Leo to Elliot. “Because I know what it’s like to lose someone important. Right now he really needs you, and from the looks of it, you need him. I told Elliot this earlier, and I’m going to tell you. Don’t turn your back on the people who need you, just because you think it will be easier for everyone. Be there for them.”

Leo took a breath to reply, but Elliot called out from the car, “Hey Leo! You coming or what?”

“Coming!” Leo called back, and he quickly answered Break, “I will. I won’t run away anymore. I won’t.”

“I promise.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and there you have it! now things are really starting to gain speed XD 
> 
> I'll say that we definitely haven't heard the last of Vincent, he's got a LOT more to say. And don't quite relax yet with Leo, things are gonna pick right back up in the next chapter. 
> 
> I have a feeling my mantra for this fic is basically "more answers, more questions" LOL. 
> 
> Also I think this is my longest chapter yet, which I'm really excited about!
> 
> That being said, I hope you all enjoyed! As always, commented are 100 appreciated! :)


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dang it hasn't been very long since my last update but I just couldn't wait LOL once again, I'd had fragments written, and just had to stitch them together 
> 
> once again, trigger warning for suicidal content.

“You ready to talk to me yet?”   
  
Elliot risked a quick glance over at Leo before shifting his eyes back to the road. “Or are you just going to sit and be a statue the whole ride?”

Leo rolled his eyes, and questioned pointedly, “What’s there to talk about? I already told you why I left, isn’t that enough?”

“No, it’s not. I want to know some things, things that you’ve mentioned but I’ve been too scared to ask about.” Elliot took a moment to sort through all the things that were waiting to be asked, and finally he decided to just settle on the first that came to mind. “When we first met, you said you didn’t mind walking home after dark. I don’t know why that struck me as odd, but it just did. Is there a reason for that?”

Leo didn’t answer right away. A few moments passed in silence before he finally sighed, and placed his hands on his lap in defeat. “Yeah, you’re right. You know, a lot of kids walk home after dark,” Leo snickered, a smirk crossing his face for a fleeting moment, but then it disappeared as he continued, “But that’s not why I’m used to it. This wasn’t my first time running, you know.”

“It wasn’t?” Elliot raised an eyebrow, letting Leo’s words sink in. “Then……..why?”

“Why else?” Leo shrugged, “I was young, and scared. I was twelve, by the way. I’ve been in this crap for four years, and it’s been four years too many.”

“You were _twelve_?” Elliot stopped at a red light, and turned his head to look at Leo.   
  
“Yeah, what of it? Orphans can be all ages you know.” Leo smirked again, shaking his head, before he got serious once more. “And I do mean all ages. _Babies_ , Elliot, even freaking babies can get orphaned. And yes, I am, before you ask.” He laughed slightly, but it was a sad, hollow laugh. “I told Lottie this the other day, I’m really one of the lucky ones. A lot of foster kids are put in care because of crappy parents.”

“So then that means that……...” Elliot trailed off, unable to finish.

“Yeah, they’re dead.” Leo whispered, a catch in his voice. “Listen, this is really, _really_ hard for me to talk about, OK? Lottie dragged it out of me, but it was a mess.”

“I know. We can change topics if you want,” Elliot offered, “I still have other questions.”   
  
“No, I want to keep going.” Leo admitted, “I mean, I guess at this point you kinda deserve to know. My dad…….he was schizophrenic. Shot himself when I was ten.”

Elliot felt his stomach drop, and had it not been for the light turning green, he would have still been staring at Leo in shock. “Were you…...”

“Was I there?” Leo finished for Elliot, shaking his head. “No, not when it actually happened, thank goodness. I would have been a _lot_ more messed up if that had happened.” He gave another slight laugh, and traced along the side of the passenger door with his finger. “I did find him though.”

“No…….”

“Yeah. Things were hard after that, but at least I still had mom. But then……...”

“She died too?”

“Yeah.” Leo confirmed, his hand dropping back to his lap. “Yeah, she did. Everyone thinks it was suicide, I mean there was even a gun. But……...but I don’t. She wasn’t……..she wasn’t _sick_ like dad was. She wouldn’t do that, not mom……...”

“Oh…...” Elliot couldn’t even begin to imagine what Leo had felt on those two days, losing both parents in the same fashion. it must have been agonizing, and Leo had only been a child.

“Of course you know what happens after that.” Leo continued, after silence had hung in the air for several moments. “And it’s been foster care hell for four years.”

“So……….you’ve been moved a lot?” Elliot asked, “Was it always because you ran?”

“Not always.” Leo shrugged, “The first time I was just in too much pain. Tore up near to the whole house. And the people were crap. You get good ones and bad ones, and sometimes the bad ones get away with stuff they shouldn’t. Anyways, I didn’t run that time.”

“Leo……..” Elliot whispered, as he turned into the neighborhood. “OK, just one more question, I promise.”

Leo leaned against the door, waving his hand. “Alright, what is it?”

“Do you remember back when Lottie came up to us at the coffee shop? When she…...when she teased me, thinking I…….that I was gay?” Elliot bit his lip, taking a moment before continuing. “Anyways, you said that you wouldn’t have cared about that, because you’d heard worse. What…….what was that about?”

Leo shook his head, his shoulders dropping. “No, can’t answer that one, sorry.”

Elliot sighed, turning in to the driveway. “Alright, I won’t force you. But please, just know this. Not everyone is going to hurt you. Not everyone wants to hurt you, I swear.”

“Why did you even start doing this?” Leo questioned, sitting up straight.

“Doing what?”

“Treating me like a person.” Leo spoke softly, reaching for the door handle.

Elliot was taken aback, and for a moment was completely silent. Finally, he managed, “Because you deserve it. You deserve better than being treated however horribly you were treated in the past, you deserve _so much more_ , and I don’t even care if you can’t see it right now, I’ll prove it to you.”

“You shouldn’t have to worry about that, I’m used to it.”   
  
Elliot stared at Leo, tearing up as he listened to his words. “Just because you’re used to something, it doesn’t make it any less unhealthy for you.”

Before Leo could respond, his phone buzzed, sitting on Elliot’s charger, where he had put it back together. In the moment before Leo could snatch up his phone, Elliot caught a glimpse of the contact. “That’s… _..”_

Leo felt his pulse quicken, and he questioned sharply, “Did you see that?”

Elliot mentally debated for a moment. Should he tell the truth? Should he lie? Finally, he decided on just telling the truth. “Yeah, I saw.” He admitted, “I’m sorry.”

Leo tightened his hand around his phone, anxiety rising. “Then what was it?” He asked, praying that Elliot hadn’t _actually_ seen it.

“It was……..” Elliot hesitated, second-guessing his decision. He bit his lip, and forced the words past his throat, “It was a hotline.”

Leo’s face went white. His hands shook, and his breath was rapid and jerky. “Yeah…...” He affirmed, “It was. I………..”

“Look, I won’t judge, OK?” Elliot held out his hands in a calming gesture. “Those things are there for a reason, and if you need it, then you need it.”

“Y…...yeah.” Leo turned off his phone and shoved it into his pocket. “I really do right now.”

“That’s why you didn’t let me see your phone back then, wasn’t it?” Elliot realized, another piece of the puzzle clicking into place in his mind.

“That’s right.”

“Oh…...” Now things were starting to make more sense. “Look, Leo, I know these words might not mean much to you right now, but I’ll say them anyways. Please, don’t give up. I can’t even imagine losing you. I just can’t……….”

“You won’t.” Leo assured, “Not this time. I’ll……...I’ll try.”

“Alright then, well I guess I’ll be going.” Elliot gave a small smile, unlocking the doors with a push of the driver side buttons.

“Wait.” Leo reached out and grasped Elliot’s arm. “Don’t leave me.”

Gilbert sat across from Vincent, an awkward tension in the air. Vincent had been at least somewhat stabilized, and the nurses had allowed Gilbert a few minutes to speak with him before heading home for the night.

“Look, I know you probably hate me right now-”

“I could never hate you, Gil!” Vincent interrupted, shaking his head. “ _You’re_ supposed to be the one who hates _me_!”

"Vince, I don't hate you." Gilbert assured, trying his best to keep his composure. "I don't now, and I never will."   
  
"But you _s_ _hould,_ " Vincent insisted once again, "You just don't remember it!"   
  
"Then why........why didn't you tell me? I would have assured you all these years, just like I'm doing now."   
  
"Because I didn't want you to remember! It would be too painful for you........." Vincent looked down, "You're too gentle, Gil. Too kind and gentle. You don't need to remember things like that."

“But instead you held it all in by yourself.” Gilbert whispered, “Vincent, I know you don’t want me to, but I want to know what happened. Just…….maybe not now, but someday. Someday when you’re able to, and I promise, I can handle it.”

“No.” Vincent looked back up, a tear forming. “I can’t do that. I can’t……..I can’t take your happiness away……..I already did it once…...”

“ _Vince_ ……...no, you haven’t.” Gilbert held out his hands, reaching to take Vincent’s. “Not once, not in _fourteen years_ , have I ever thought that you’ve taken my happiness away.”

“But Gil, you’re _24_! Don’t you understand?! I stole ten years away from you!”

“Vincent, it’s _OK_.” Gilbert squeezed Vincent’s hand, “I’m here now and that’s all that matters. Yes, I do want to know what happened, but if I don’t remember it myself then that’s _fine_. All I want is for the two of us to live, _together_.”

“But it’s not OK!” Vincent tore his hand away, his arms shaking. “It would have been…..it would have if…..if…..”

“If what?”   
  
Vincent drew in a shaky breath, and spat out with self-loathing and hatred, “If only I _hadn’t given Jack that damn lighter!_ ”

_Fourteen years ago_

Jack pushed open his apartment door, barely even registering the sound of it slamming shut behind him. His mind was blank, save for one thing. _“She’s gone. She’s dead.”_

Over and over this thought plagued him, tormented him, driving itself deeper into his soul, etching itself into his heart with its poison, an overlapping symphony of madness and grief.

Stumbling to his fridge, Jack reached for a bottle of alcohol, not even caring what it was. He pulled out the stopper and poured it into a glass. “She’s gone!” He screamed aloud, a tear forming at his eye. “She’s _dead_ , and it’s been two months, so then _why don’t I feel anything_?!” He reached to his cheek with his empty hand, and his fingers touched the small droplets of tears.

“Am I…….crying?” Jack laughed, a hollow, broken sound. “Why? _Why_?! I don’t even know if these feelings are mine anymore! She…….she was all I needed! _I’m lost without her_!”

He slammed the fridge door, making his way into his living room with swaying steps. He crashed onto his couch, and took a drink. “I feel _nothing_ , I’m not……...but yet I……...am I hurting?! What are these feelings?! Do I even have any?! I can’t live _without her_!”

More and more tears fell down his face, but he was unable to comprehend them. “I hate her!” He screamed, his hands shaking. “I need her…...no I hate her!” He sat down the glass and clutched at his head, pulling his hair and clenching his teeth.

“ _Why?!_ Why did…….why did she have to die?!” Jack lifted his head, “Why did she have to leave me alone?! I’m _nothing_ without her!”

Jack reached again for his drink, but before he could grasp it, a knock sounded at the door.

“Jack?” A childish voice called, and the door pushed open to reveal Vincent standing on the other side. “Jack, is something wrong? Your door slammed shut and-” cutting himself off, Vincent stared at Jack, and he tilted his head in confusion. “Jack?! Are you alright? You’re crying! What happened?…...”

Jack looked down at Vincent, and he shook his head in dismissal. “Vincent? I’m…….I’m fine. But what about you? Are you…...are you happy here?”

Vincent blinked, processing what Jack had just asked. “Me?……...I’m…….I’m happy wherever Gil is happy……….” He trailed off, messing with the edge of his shirt as he spoke.

“That’s a lie. It’s naughty…..to lie, Vincent. You’re…….you’re not happy, are you?”

Vincent looked away, nodding slowly. “No….I’m not.” He admitted.

“I can give you a place where you can be happy together.”   
  
Vincent turned to face Jack once more, his eyes shining with hope. “Really?!”

“Yes. But first, can you do me a favor?”

“Sure, what is it?”

Jack motioned with his hand towards a drawer in the kitchen. “There’s…….there’s a lighter in that drawer. Do you mind getting it for me? And then give me a few minutes alone.”

Vincent obeyed, running to grab the lighter, although something was bugging him at the back of his mind. “But Jack,” he protested, handing over the lighter, “You don’t even smoke!”

“I know.” Jack accepted the lighter, a small, empty smile crossing his lips. “I’m thinking about starting.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaand there you have it folks! it's taken quite a bit, but I daresay y'all are getting some answers now LOL I had the bit with Leo's phone written out quite a bit ago, and I had initially planned for it to happen at the coffee shop, but I worked it in this chapter instead, since Elliot was basically playing 20 questions XD 
> 
> and now you know what Vincent's favor to Jack was! not a pretty sight, to be sure. 
> 
> oh, and don't think I've forgotten about the other characters, Break and Oz will get their own turns here shortly.......


	14. Chapter 14

Hey guys. I know it's been a long time since I've posted a chapter update, and sadly this is not a chapter update. Firstly, I'd been considering re-writing the chapters to fix some awkward pacing and some of my older, crappier writing style (this has been published over a year's time and my writing has changed quite a bit). This has been taking a bit of time, so I probably won't update until I'll got some of that sorted out and posted (don't worry, I'll still leave this version up, but it won't be "canon" so to speak anymore). That being said, everything that has been going on in the world has taken a toll on my mental health, and while I do write a lot to vent, as in fact this story started (and in some places continued) as a vent-fic, I can't seem to find the motivation much to work on the drastic overhaul that I want to do, and I do want to place my mental health first, since it's important to me. Sorry to all my regular readers, I love y'all and it means so much to me that y'all take time out of your day to read this story, but it might be a bit before I come back to the multi-chapter scene. that being said, I may pour my time into some one-shots here and there, but who knows.


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